Swampscott Town Administrator Responds To Discrimination Complaints, 'Unfair Criticisms'

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald gave a lengthy and emotional response to a published report of two discrimination complaints filed against him over a three-year span through the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and several sharp criticisms leveled against him during Monday night's Select Board meeting.

Fitzgerald asked to address the room — filled with dozens of residents following the Lynn Item report of separate sex discrimination and age discrimination complaints filed with the MCAD — following public comment that criticized the Board's decision to extend Fitzgerald's contract and award him a bonus while the complaints were pending, as well as larger criticisms that the Board is unresponsive to the concerns of many citizens.

"I appreciate the criticisms," Fitzgerald said. "I'm not perfect. What I've heard tonight is unfair. I respect the fact that people work in human resources. But to use language that infers that people might be disgusting or acts that have been portrayed by one side in an article is just unfair. There's nobody here that would want their son or their daughter or their family member to be subjected to unfair criticism.

"I work to try to protect the integrity of this town. I make enormous sacrifices to do the right thing. I have tried incredibly hard to speak with everybody to find common ground. I'm not perfect but I am passionate about public service. I am passionate about doing good work.

"I want people to be kinder. I want people to be nicer. I want people to be better about how we treat each other. And all I see is people standing up and casting stones. And not asking about: 'Do we have all sides?' The information the reporter put in the paper did not have the town's response to the complaints because it's confidential. It's not going to be released before it goes through due process. But it's good enough to be on a front page of a paper.

"And it's good enough for people to take and rally behind and bring so many unfair things. I want to go through this process. There is not an iota of information that I don't want to have become public. There's not an iota of information. And I would stand up in front of everybody and ask that at some point that it all gets public.

"But I have a responsibility to protect employees too. And, frankly, there are other people involved in this. And I can't stand up on a soap box and get into details without violating people's right to privacy. It's good enough, though, for folks to come here and take that one-sided perspective.

"It's unfair."

The Item reported that Police Officer Briana Sanchez filed a complaint against Fitzgerald and the town alleging that she was asked inappropriate questions about her physical appearance during her interview process, while former Community Development Office Manager Maureen Shultz said she was denied equal treatment to her younger colleagues when it came to bonuses and work privileges, that her termination in 2020 was age-based, and that she was not subsequently hired for other roles in the town for which she claimed she was qualified.

Select Board David Grishman said at the outset of the meeting that the Board was aware of the complaints and the article but had no further comment at this time during the MCAD process beyond that "the town disagrees with the filed complaints."

"It's within the rights of the current and former employees to file complaints with MCAD," Grishman said. "Additionally, the town administrator is also a town employee and his rights must also be protected.

"As this is a personnel matter that is currently in the legal process we're not going to take any questions or speak further to this in a public meeting this evening."

Grishman sought to end public comment after about 12 minutes on the subject — including two minutes of Fitzgerald's comments — but then relented and allowed three additional comments before moving on to the next agenda item.

(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.)