First Woman To Serve As Watertown Police Detective Files Lawsuit

WATERTOWN, MA — The first woman to serve as a police detective in Watertown claims she faced a "sexually charged and hostile work environment" that pushed her out of the profession.

Kathleen Donohue filed a lawsuit against the town and police union in Middlesex Superior Court last year. The case is now headed to a jury trial, The Associated Press reported.

The 36-page complaint details claims of harassment and discrimination dating back to Donohue's first year on the force in 1998 and escalating after her pregnancy in 2003. Among the allegations are sexist comments and degrading jokes.

Donohue claims she was targeted by the police department for speaking out against dangerous conduct by officers during the search for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in April 2013. Donohue was among the first officers at the Watertown home where Tsarnaev was captured.

A state inquiry into the standoff in 2015 found several officers fired their guns with "poor weapons discipline" and endangered others in the crossfire. Donohue held her fire, the lawsuit said.

Donohue started her detective job in December 2002. She claims she was mistreated and disrespected by fellow officers and superiors because she is a woman. One example included a colleague failing to tell her about potentially dangerous deficiencies in the patrol car he handed off to her, according to the suit. When Donohue criticized him, the lawsuit claims he told her he "Does not give a f---."

The lawsuit also claims Donohue's colleagues spread false rumors about having sexual relationships with her. The lawsuit claims Donohue and now-police Chief Michael Lawn had a relationship that started out as a mentorship when Lawn was a lieutenant:

"In or around September 2009, then Lt. Lawn walked right over a line, used the power of his position and the isolation he knew Det. Donohue was experiencing to invite her to engage in an intimate relationship with him. She could not and did not resist."

Watertown Police Association attorney Peter Duffy said the association has no comment on the lawsuit.

Donohue made several complaints to superiors, the police union and the town. An investigation was launched in 2013 by Watertown's Personnel Department. The investigation lasted a year and was deemed "inconclusive" as to who had said and spread rumors about Donohue.

The attorney representing Watertown, Bradford Neal Louison, could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit also alleges Donohue faced unfair and harsher punishment than her male counterparts. When Donohue refused to meet a sergeant in his office after what is described in the complaint as him publicly mocking and disparaging her, she was suspended.

The lawsuit claims that other members of the department received less punishment for more serious offenses, including an officer who was assigned to a middle school and "encouraged female students to cut class and sleep in his office" and "showed them a sexually charged video and an inappropriate website."

Donohue's attorney, Aron Welo, could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit consists of six allegations, including gender discrimination, retaliation and breach of the fair duty representation.