WESTBROOK — Two female members of the Westbrook Fire and Rescue Department who sued the city for failing to address complaints of sexual harassment would get a combined settlement of about $846,000 under agreements reached with city officials.
Lisa Theberge and Kathy Rogers, who filed a harassment complaint about two years ago and sued the city in 2009, have agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for a settlement that includes back pay, damages and attorney fees.
Their complaints of sexual harassment by fellow firefighters also led to the dismissal of several top officials in the fire department and the hiring of a consultant to take over the training of firefighters in harassment prevention.
Under terms of the agreements, Theberge would receive $368,708, including about $40,000 for attorney fees, and Rogers would receive $477,639, including about $50,000 for attorney fees.
The city would pay Rogers $207,639 over the next five years and the balance would be paid by the city’s insurance carrier, the Maine Municipal Association. The city would pay Theberge $20,000, with insurance paying the balance. It was unclear why the payouts were structured differently.
The settlement totals don’t include a combined $20,000 insurance deductible already paid by the city, or other associated costs, including new security cameras to monitor two city fire stations.
Rebecca Webber, the attorney representing Theberge and Rogers, said the agreement comes with “a mixture of relief and incredible sadness” for her clients. She declined to comment further on the terms.
“While we cannot discuss the terms of any resolution, the matter being discussed by the council represents a satisfactory end to the litigation in court,” Webber said. “It is the hope that members of the department from this point will move forward with the current mayor, and, like her, be committed to ensuring that all firefighters, whether male or female, are allowed to serve and protect the citizens of Westbrook to their utmost abilities. It is about time.”
The City Council is scheduled to approve the settlements at its meeting Monday. There likely won’t be any council discussion, however.
Both women were placed on paid administrative leave after their complaints came to light in September 2008. Theberge has since returned to work. Her settlement requires that the city install surveillance cameras and security equipment at the city’s Public Safety Building and at Station 3 on Bridgton Road.
Rogers, meanwhile, does not plan to return to the fire department and would remain on paid leave until she retires in November after 20 years of service.
Her settlement is contingent upon being promoted to lieutenant retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008, and being able to collect retirement benefits based on a $70,000 annual salary in the last three years of her career. She had been paid about $45,000 a year in 2008 and 2009, but would receive the $25,000-a-year raise retroactively under her settlement.
Rogers had charged in the 2009 lawsuit alleging discriminatory behavior that she had been passed over for a promotion to lieutenant, and that the job went to a male firefighter with less training and experience.
Whether Rogers actually receives the additional retirement benefits — and whether the settlement holds up — will be up to the Maine Public Employee Retirement System. The agency routinely reviews legal settlements and other large salary increases to make sure the pay is for services rendered, said General Counsel John Milazzo.
He would not pass judgment on the Westbrook settlement, but said, “We would look at that very carefully.”
The settlement agreements also say they are not an admission of liability on the part of the city, City Administrator Jerre Bryant or Bruce Chuluda, the city’s former mayor.
Bryant declined to comment on the settlement Tuesday.
“It speaks for itself,” he said.
Mayor Colleen Hilton also declined to comment.
The terms of the agreements require strict confidentiality. The plaintiffs are not even allowed to talk about it with their husbands unless their husbands sign a confidentiality agreement too. If any city officials make a comment to the media, however, Rogers and Theberge would be allowed to respond.
The settlements do allow the city to disclose the terms if compelled under state or federal law. Officials released the documents to news reporters after the Portland Press Herald and other news organizations requested the information under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act.
In 2008, Theberge and Rogers filed a sexual-harassment complaint against the department with the Maine Human Rights Commission. They alleged about 150 incidents of sexual harassment involving 20 firefighters.
Seven firefighters were disciplined in December 2008 for inappropriate actions and language in the workplace, or for failing to address the issues that contributed to a hostile work environment.
However, Theberge and Rogers contended that the city had failed to address the problem.
The women sued on Oct. 21 of last year, alleging sexual harassment and discriminatory behavior. Their suit said several male firefighters, including lieutenants and captains, engaged in incidents ranging from masturbating and watching pornography at the station to sex at a fire department gathering.
The city hired a consulting firm, the Center for Preventing Hate, for $40,000 to evaluate the department and train its employees in sexual-harassment awareness. The program ended in June.
Theberge returned to work June 21.
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer contributed to this report.
Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at: jrichardson@pressherald.com
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