Fairfield Police Detective Claims Hostile Work Environment In Lawsuit

FAIRFIELD, CT — A veteran Fairfield police detective has sued the department and her supervising lieutenant, claiming a hostile work environment and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Det. Kerry Dalling has been a member of the Fairfield Police Department since 1997, and was promoted to detective in 2001.

Within the Detective Bureau, she created a unit that focused on domestic and sexual violence cases, according to the lawsuit, in which she was the detective in charge of for more than a decade. She was removed from the unit in 2021.

The lawsuit claims that Dalling was removed from the unit by Lt. Matthew Riendeau, and given an assignment that curtailed her opportunities for overtime pay, as retaliation for her reporting instances of inappropriate sexual conduct in the bureau.

"The issues [Dalling] raised included the conduct of the male employees within the Detective Bureau who were openly having sexual conversations and making inappropriate sexual comments," the lawsuit reads.

This latest lawsuit marks Dalling's second against the department in a year, after she sued claiming she was retaliated against after she investigated another officer in a domestic violence case.

Patch reached out to Dalling's Bridgeport-based attorney, John Bochanis, for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.

In addition to the department, Riendeau is also named in the lawsuit, which claims he told Dalling that she was an adult and that she should "get used to or expect vulgar conversations" in the bureau.

The lawsuit claims that Riendeau did not indicate to Dalling that he would "resolve or end the inappropriate sexual conduct or comments," even though he was in charge of the bureau.

In an email to Patch, police department spokesperson Lt. Michael Paris declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the fact that it is pending litigation.

Dalling filed the lawsuit in Bridgeport Superior Court in January, and she is seeking monetary damages in excess of $15,000.

"Based on the Defendants’ actions through their agents, servants and/or employees including Defendant Matthew Riendeau, as hereinbefore described, the Plaintiff was wrongfully constructively discharged, harassed, retaliated against and treated differently than other employees based on her sex, engaging in sexual harassment, and creating a hostile work environment by the Defendants in violation of Connecticut General Statutes Section 46a-60(b)(1)(4)(5)," the lawsuit reads.

"Due to the Defendants’ hereinbefore described actions, the Plaintiff has lost and is continuing to lose salary, benefits and other prerequisites of employment, has suffered extreme humiliation, mental anxiety and emotional distress, and has been required to assume various incidental expenses."