Longtime police sergeant is suing Milford

Claims she was denied promotions

MILFORD — The Select Board was scheduled to meet in executive session Monday to discuss the town’s strategy in regards to a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a longtime police sergeant.

Milford police Sgt. Kara Maguire — who in 2006 became the department’s first female supervisor — sued the town in October 2022 for employment discrimination. She claims she was denied promotional opportunities because of her gender and was subjected to sexual harassment.

Maguire is suing for a total of $1,002,000. She seeks $27,000 in lost wages, $270,000 in anticipated lost wages, as well as $705,000 in lost pension, benefits, emotional distress and fees.

She is suing on three counts: Gender discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation.

Feb. 9, Worcester County Superior Court Judge Valerie Yarashus ruled that Maguire must provide all documents supporting her claims for non-economic damages and documentation concerning injuries and illnesses suffered during Maguire’s employment with the Milford Police Department.

Maguire is represented by Bostonbased Todd and Weld LLP. Her attorneys, Nicholas Carter and Lucia Passanisi, did not return requests for comment.

The Town of Milford is represented by Boston-based Foley Hoag LLP. Its attorneys, Christopher Feudo, Laura Gradel and Marissa Mugan, also did not return requests for comment.

Maguire, a lifelong Milford resident, has been employed with the police force since 1995. She earned $203,989 in 2022, putting her among Milford’s top 25 highest-paid municipal employees for that year.

Maguire argues that despite having an exemplary career, she has been passed over for promotions and preferential positions within the department in favor of less qualified male officers.

In her lawsuit, she stated that Deputy Chief John Sanchioni was promoted from sergeant to deputy chief in Feb. 2021 without an application process.

Maguire said she was passed over in favor of a less-experienced sergeant — current Police Chief Robert Tusino — when a second deputy chief position opened in 2021. Maguire acknowledged in the lawsuit, as well as in her application to become deputy chief, that she was being investigated by internal affairs.

The investigation began after a nowretired police officer crashed a police vehicle in a neighboring town and failed to report the accident to the town or to the Milford Police Department. Maguire was investigated because she provided the former officer with keys to the vehicle — her understanding was that the officer had permission from then-interim Chief James Falvey.

At the time Tusino was selected for the deputy chief position, he had been a Milford police sergeant for about three years. Maguire had held that same title for 16.

In her lawsuit, Maguire alleges other patterns of systemic gender discrimination.

Court documents state that male sergeants were provided with preferential treatment and given more prestigious positions. The Police Department also began promoting younger, less-experienced male officers to sergeant at a much quicker pace than Maguire claims she had been promoted.

Maguire also states in her lawsuit that besides the discrimination, she faced sexist comments from male peers.

According to the filings, she was also reprimanded after picking up her daughter from school in a department vehicle. She claims that male officers who did similar actions did not face any consequences.

Finally, she claims that she was retaliated against after filing a charge of discrimination with the Mass. Commission Against Discrimination.

In its response to the lawsuit, the town denied much of the facts of the lawsuit.

In its filings, the town claims the department’s actions were based on legitimate, non-discriminatory or non-retaliatory reasons.

A final pre-trial conference is scheduled for Oct. 8.

The lawsuit is among other Milford Police Department-related lawsuits including select board member and former Police Chief Thomas O’Loughlin’s defamation suit against the town; former Police Chief Michael Pighetti’s breach of contract case; and a wrongful death suit against the department.