Milford police chief files discrimination complaint

Nov. 20--MILFORD -- Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin has accused the town of discriminating against him based on his age and disability, according to a complaint filed with the state.

"My client believes they are using the fact of his age and his disability," Ernest Horn, O'Loughlin's lawyer, said, "and he feels that that's part of their basis of why they're not moving forward with his contract."

The complaint was filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination within days of the chief's lawsuit against the town for not renewing his contract.

Selectmen made that decision in a 2-1 closed-door vote at the end of September, and earlier this month voted to establish the committee expected to find O'Loughlin's replacement.

O'Loughlin's complaint largely focuses on a statement Selectman William Buckley made after the board publicly announced its vote not to renew O'Loughlin's contract. In that statement, Buckley mentions the state statutory limits that require police and fire personnel to retire at age 65, and notes that O'Loughlin is close to that age.

"The Selectmen have publicly praised my performance as Chief of Police, only to vote 2 to 1 in Executive Session to terminate my contract," reads the MCAD complaint, signed by O'Loughlin.

"The only public explanation from Selectman William Buckley as to the reasoning of Selectman William Kingkade and himself, is that I am too old at 62 years of age and Massachusetts has a mandatory retirement age for municipal police officers at 65 years of age," O'Loughlin said in the complaint.

Buckley did not say explicitly O'Loughlin was "too old" in that Oct. 1 statement, but O'Loughlin's statement points out that Buckley "made it a point" to mention O'Loughlin's age, while offering no public reason not to renew the contract.

In Massachusetts, prohibited age discrimination begins at 40 years old.

The complaint also says the town discriminated against O'Loughlin based on his disability -- a limp he sustained after battling polio as a four-year-old. That addition, according to Horn, came at the suggestion of the state commission against discrimination.

"The commission wants to evaluate the town's behavior relative to both age and disability," Horn said.

The town's lawyer in the case said he had no comment on the complaint. He had said recently he won't likely comment on pending litigation.

The commission does not confirm or deny the existence of any specific case, but commission spokesman H. Harrison said complaints that are found to have enough evidence are sent to a public hearing. The commission has its own hearing rooms, officers, and experts, according to Harrison, and verified complaints have full trials within commission offices.

Investigations can take about 18 months, he said. That's down from the 24 months typically estimated as of about five years ago.

"We are actively working to reduce the time it takes," Harrison said. "We are shooting to try and get that ... to be under a year."

The length of an investigation depends on the case, Harrison said.

The commission's services are free to the public, Harrison added, including free consultations.

Alison Bosma can be reached at 508-634-7582 or abosma@wickedlocal.com. Find her on Twitter at @AlisonBosma.

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