Swampscott Select Board Backs Town Administrator In Complaint

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Select Board Chair David Grishman issued a vigorous defense of Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald Wednesday night three weeks after a meeting in which Fitzgerald came under fire during public comment following the publicizing of two discrimination complaints filed against him with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in recent years.

Grishman said a town investigation found that Fitzgerald did not violate the town's anti-harassment policy following five executive sessions and interviews held from August 2022 to February 2023 about a sex discrimination complaint filed by a current town employee.

The complaint, and an age complaint filed in 2020, became public in a Lynn Item report published earlier in February.

(Also on Patch: Swampscott Town Administrator Responds To Discrimination Complaints)

"The town administrator did not violate the town's anti-discrimination policy nor did his conduct evince bias on the employee on the basis of their gender or sex," Grishman said of the findings. "Second, even if one were to conclude that the conduct was sexual or bias, we did not find evidence suggesting that it had the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the employee's employment or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment consistent with the policy."

Grishman said the Select Board voted to accept the findings at the time and require that Fitzgerald take part in a refresher course on discrimination and sexual harassment.

"While the Select Board stands by its findings and denies the allegations contained in the MCAD complaint," he said, "these positions in no way reflect negatively on the complaining employee's position or employment with the town of Swampscott and the employee's ongoing contribution to our community.

Grishman said he regretted that the Select Board members "sat silently (on Feb. 12) while our colleague was verbally attacked during public comment as a result of a completely one-sided article."

Fitzgerald criticized the "aspersions" cast against him as "retaliation" based on some of the changes he felt were needed regarding "patronage" and "nepotism" and lack of "professionalism" when he was hired as town administrator seven years ago, as well as the conflict surrounding the transition from civil service.

"This is visceral," he said. "I want people to understand these changes have been very difficult. But what has it helped us to do? It's helped us hire the most diverse number of individuals in the town's history. But the price I'm paying now is that I have individuals casting aspersions unfairly.

"We have a handful of people who at one point tell us to be nicer, to be kinder, to speak more politely to each other. But yet they use some of the worst language to describe their elected officials or public servants. I can't be the only one who sees that, right?"

Fitzgerald said the complaint was "weaponized" and that complaints filed against both him and the town "smacked of retaliation."

"I didn't want to have to talk about this tonight," he said. "I don't feel it serves anybody. But if you're going to put it out there then I'm going to talk, and I'm going to talk, and I'm going to talk.

"I'm not just going to let this go without a response. This town deserves better."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)