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Cop brings case to federal court

By Alan Burke
Staff writer
Published: August 15, 2008

MARBLEHEAD — Veteran police Sgt. Marion Keating has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that she has been the victim of both sex and age discrimination within the department.

Named in the lawsuit are the town and police Chief Robert Picariello.

Keating, 52, filed her suit last month, calling for a jury trial. Her earlier complaint to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination was previously withdrawn. Keating was demoted from detective to patrol supervisor in 2007 following what Picariello characterized as an unauthorized communication between her and a reporter for The Salem News.

Town officials are reluctant to comment on the lawsuit, which asks for back pay, punitive damages and court costs.

"I do not comment on personnel issues," Picariello said.

Meanwhile, Keating's attorneys, including David Belfort, also declined comment. "We're not going to say anything on this matter," said an unidentified man who answered the phone at Belfort's office. "It could possibly damage our case."

Last February, Keating brought the same complaint before the selectmen, only to have it rejected unanimously.

Her lawsuit points out that she was the town's first female officer and one of two currently serving. She has been employed full time since 1977. In 2006, she was placed in charge of the department's Criminal Investigation Unit by then-Chief James Carney.

The filing cites a series of moves by Picariello that allegedly damaged Keating, including failing to "include her in certain staff meetings and other meetings that included sergeants," prohibiting her from attending professional conferences and excluding her from policy making sessions with Picariello.

It all left her suffering "humiliation, embarrassment, shame and emotional distress," according to the suit.

On July 19, 2007, Keating was, in the words of the filing, "demoted" and removed from the Criminal Investigation Unit for "releasing arrest information to the press." Younger officers were assigned to the unit. The sergeant quotes Picariello as telling her, "Sometimes people are around too long. You don't fit my young, new vision."

At the hearing before the selectmen in February, Picariello vigorously denied this, declaring, "That's just fictional. I never said that." He added that Keating wasn't denied access to meetings — rather, unlike the previous chief, he tends to limit meetings to captains and lieutenants.

He said Keating was only permitted to give certain information to the press regarding arrests, mainly name and age. Broader statements would come from officers assigned to issue them.

"I believe when you speak for the Police Department, you are speaking for me," the chief said, explaining to the selectmen his caution in releasing such statements.

Keating's telephone call with a reporter was tape-recorded by the Police Department.

"I was equally disturbed by the fact that Sgt. Keating was making arrangements in the phone conversation to actually speak to the reporter at a later date about another case that she was working on," Picariello said.

Assistant Town Counsel Marc Miller declared during the February hearing, "The chief may not like (Keating), other members of the department may not like her, you may not like her. That is not discrimination. ... They're looking for something that they can't find."

Belfort suggested that the treatment of the veteran officer was personal, saying, "This is not the way you deal with a professional. This is the way you deal with someone you loathe."