Two female superior officers file MCAD suit against chief, mayor

  Revere Police Captains Amy O’Hara and Michelle Mangino, the first two female officers hired in the history of the Revere Police Department, have filed complaints of discrimination against police Chief David Callahan and Mayor Brian Arrigo with the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination.

  The lengthy and detailed complaints include numerous instances of how Callahan, since becoming chief, has systematically sidelined O’Hara and Mangino in favor of lower-ranked less-qualified male officers. According to the complaints, as female officers in a male-dominated public safety profession, both O’Hara and Mangino have experienced gender discrimination at various times during their careers. However, the extent and degree of such discrimination has become unbearable during the nearly three years under Callahan. What makes this discrimination particularly insidious is that it takes place primarily through subtle but discernible acts of disparate treatment that build up to create a work environment permeated by stress, anxiety, and hostility.

  “Captains Mangino and O’Hara only want to bring change to the Revere Police Department,” said attorney Joseph Sulman who is representing both women. “They reported Chief Callahan’s conduct to the city, but nothing was done. They participated in an investigation for six months, but nothing changed. This lawsuit was a last resort. After over nearly three years of having their expertise disregarded and authority openly undermined by Chief Callahan day after day, they needed to take action.”

  According to the complaints, Callahan has repeatedly failed to communicate or brief O’Hara and Mangino on operational matters which affect the safety of the city and officers.

  Callahan has repeatedly reassigned officers under the command of O’Hara and Mangino without notifying them about the changes which differs from his practice of routinely discussing management decisions with male superior officers.

  Callahan assigns oversight of major grants to lower-ranked male officers despite O’Hara’s superior level of expertise and knowledge of the subject matters Callahan also failed to encourage his officers to attend the incident command training that O’Hara has arranged, risking the cancellation of such trainings until O’Hara intervened.

  In 2021, O’Hara secured a $300,000 grant for a Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) in the Department, with money allocated to fund sworn and civilian staff. O’Hara needed Callahan’s approval and input on several initiatives for the BHU, but Callahan ignored the unit and O’Hara’s repeated requests for him to meet until he was directed to attend meetings by City Hall, and even then, only attended sporadic meetings. Callahan also did not authorize any hirings for the BHU until effectively ordered to do so by City Hall.  Although Callahan has outwardly made the Behavioral Health Unit a budget priority for 2023, he has refused to allocate sufficient staffing to O’Hara to allow the BHU to be successful and even reassigned officers from BHU to other priorities.

  According to O’Hara and Mangino, male officers receive stipends not available to them. Mangino is in charge of the Records Division, but a male officer is receiving a stipend for records even though he has no responsibilities for supervising and handling requests for records and evidence. Yet this male superior continues to receive a stipend for being in charge of Records, and Mangino continues to receive no stipend despite being the only officer in charge of Records.

  Callahan also instructed Mangino and O’Hara not to approve any overtime for their subordinate officers without his prior approval, citing budget concerns. He authorized his male superior officers to incur hundreds of hours of overtime without seeking prior authorization.

  On Sept. 13, Chief Callahan met with Mangino and O’Hara and instructed them that they needed to begin wearing uniforms at work and work business hours.  They previously worked in business attire and worked their chosen hours. He did not require male superior officers to wear uniforms or generally work business hours.

  On September 15, Mangino contacted the City’s Human Resources to report concerns about Chief Callahan’s discriminatory conduct.  Shortly after she contacted Human Resources, Callahan met with Mangino and informed her that he was removing certain duties and assignments from her role over the National Incident-Based Reporting System or NIBRS and Drug Testing. These duties had been assigned to Capt. Mangino since before Callahan became Chief.

  The city retained an attorney through the mayor’s office to investigate the allegations brought by Mangino and O’Hara.

 Mangino was promoted to Captain in 2017, while O’Hara was promoted to Captain in 2018. Despite the career success of both women, Revere has a history of gender discrimination in the Police Department. Two female officers had filed lawsuits against the city alleging discrimination and/or harassment. One of those lawsuits led to a $175,000 settlement. At least one other female officer has recently internally filed a discrimination and/or harassment complaint, causing a male officer to be placed on leave. Another female employee of the city internally filed a discrimination and/or harassment complaint related to the regional dispatch center located in the police station.

  As the first female officers in the City, Mangino and O’Hara have been vocal in asserting their right to equal treatment in terms and conditions and compensation. They have not shied from speaking up – professionally and respectfully – for equal treatment and respect.

  Mangino has filed several complaints of unequal treatment and harassment against both officers and superior officers that were supported by members of the 3 Department. One such complaint led to a letter of reprimand being issued to Lt. Charles Callahan, the brother of Chief Callahan.

  O’Hara has also been the subject of prior harassment complaints and spoke up in support of other female officers who have reported discrimination.

  According to Sulman, the above actions and numerous similar incidents amount to unlawful discrimination based on gender as well as retaliation in response to a good faith report of discrimination in violation of M.G.L. c. 151B, § 4(1)(4), and (4A).  This discrimination and retaliation caused injury to Mangino and O’Hara in the form of lost opportunity for overtime, details, other compensation, reputational harm, emotional distress, and other damages to be proven at trial.

  “The Chief’s conduct is not only discriminatory, it also negatively affects the operation of the entire department,” said Sulman. “Officers are afraid to speak up because of fear of retaliation by the Chief. He retaliated against Captains Mangino and O’Hara after they raised their concerns internally by removing assignments and interfering with their supervision of officers. This retaliation continues to this day, with the officers who report to Captains O’Hara and Mangino receiving increased scrutiny and monitoring in the past several months.”

  When asked for a response to the lawsuit filings, the mayor press secretary Jacqueline McLaughlin emailed a statement on Wednesday: “All internal affairs and personnel matters are confidential – however, I can assure you that every formal complaint filed with the city is taken seriously and investigated by all appropriate internal and/or external parties.”