Marotta said in her suit Mayor Edward J. Gibson sexually harassed her and the School Committee ignored the resulting hostile work environment.
A lawsuit in which former West Springfield School Superintendent Suzanne T. Marotta, left, claimed Mayor Edward J. Gibson, right, sexually harassed her and the School Committee ignored the resulting hostile work environment has been resolved out of court.WEST SPRINGFIELD – A Hampden Superior Court lawsuit filed against the mayor and the School Committee by former School Superintendent Suzanne T. Marotta has been resolved out of court.
Marotta said in her suit Mayor Edward J. Gibson sexually harassed her and the School Committee ignored the resulting hostile work environment.
However, a confidentially agreement prevents either side from talking about the matter, Patricia M. Rapinchuk, the city’s legal counsel in the case, said Thursday.
“It would be improper to say more,” Rapinchuk said when asked if there was a financial settlement.
In a similar case, Hampshire District Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup ruled earlier this month the public has a First Amendment right to see the details of a settlement between South Hadley and the parents of Phoebe Prince, the high school student who committed suicide after being harassed at school. As result, the public learned that $225,000 had been paid to the parents of the 15-year-old.
Anne O’Brien and Jeremy Prince had filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination before the settlement was reached.
In regards to the West Springfield case, Gibson said, “Neither I nor the School Committee had any wrongdoing in the matter. As far as I know the matter has been resolved.”
Gibson said he got word of the resolution in mid-December. The mayor said he does not know if a financial settlement had been made and, if so, whether it was covered by the city’s insurance carrier.
“There was not any town money involved,” Gibson said.
Neither Marotta nor her legal counsel in the matter, Gregory J. Angelini, of Leominster, could be reached for comment.
Marotta was the superintendent of city public schools from July 1997 through June 30, 2010, when her most recent employment contract expired.
She initially filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination March 24, 2010, stating Gibson, who chairs the School Committee, had created a “hostile and humiliating” work environment for her by his actions that included sexual advances.
In that complaint, she also accused Gibson of gender bias regarding women’s pay and competence. Marotta said the mayor made unwelcome sexual advances and requests. She contended that because he was rejected, Gibson engineered the School Committee’s decision to not renew her contract.
Gibson has denied the allegations and noted that Marotta did not file a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination until after the School Committee voted in February 2010 to start a search for a new school superintendent.
Marotta went on to file a civil lawsuit Feb. 3, 2011, in Hampden Superior Court.
Among the claims in the lawsuit were that Gibson sexually harassed Marotta, created a hostile work environment, and retaliated and interfered with her contract.
The lawsuit also states that the School Committee ignored the hostile work environment, aided and abetted Gibson’s unlawful harassment, breached Marotta’s contract and breached public policy by having “terminated” the agreement.
