Officer Sues City of Grosse Pointe, Alleges Discrimination

The 's only female public safety officer, Lisa Monticciolo, is seeking a promotion and a variety of financial damages from the municipality in a lawsuit filed in Wayne Circuit Court alleging discrimination.

Meanwhile, the attorney recently hired to represent the City, John Gillooly, said his client is denying all of the allegations made in the lawsuit. 

According to the lawsuit, Monticciolo has been treated differently within the Department of Public Safety since she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in February 2011.

Her complaint with the EEOC related to a series of events and interactions within the department and the city in which she was treated differently than the rest of the officers. She attempted to address the problem with City Manager Pete Dame before filing the complaint with the EEOC but he refused to meet with her, according to the lawsuit.

The events and interactions alleged in the lawsuit are as follows:

• Monticciolo sought a promotion in December 2010 to the position of detective. She was not given the promotion but felt she was the most qualified of the applicants based on a department wide email sent out about what the director would be looking for in candidates. Another officer with far less time on the department and less education was given the position instead.
• Monticciolo alleges through the lawsuit that she was put into a hostile work environment in which former Director James Fox and City Manager Pete Dame refused to talk with her without attorneys.
• The lawsuit alleges Monticciolo has been subjected to sexual harassment by fellow officers, including one commanding officer telling her he would like to see her in a lesbian encounter with a woman who frequently calls the department and is always wearing lingerie when officers arrive to her home. 
• The lawsuit also alleges that fellow officers went through her locker and changing area, which is separate from the rest of the department because she is the only female officer, and urinated and defecated in her sink at one point. 
• She was also told she could not go on a fire run once because "you're a girl. All you're good for is working in the kitchen," according to the lawsuit. She had also filed a complaint with the chief after witnessing several fellow officers watching pornographic movies in the firehouse.
• She allegedly was denied compensation for a time period when she was sick despite a male officer in a similar situation being granted the same request.
• The lawsuit also alleges Monticciolo was asked to set certain evidence aside for various people within the department, which is not the legal process for handling evidence.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are former Public Safety Director James Fox, Detective Alan Gwyn, City Manager Pete Dame, the City of Grosse Pointe and the Department of Public Safety. 

"The City is extremely disappointed by the allegations," Gillooly said. "We are going to do all we can to get this case dismissed."

The City is aiming to handle the lawsuit with a minimal amount of money, he said, explaining they do not want to pay thousands of taxpayer dollars to fight it. Gillooly said he recently received a 30-day extension from the court to file his response to the lawsuit and he intends to take Monticciolo's deposition shortly after he files the response. 

There have not been any changes to the employment status of anyone named in the lawsuit, including Monticciolo, who is still on the job, Gillooly said.

In addition to seeking the promotion she was passed up for nearly a year ago, the lawsuit seeks a minimum of $25,000 in compensatory damages, a minimum of $25,000 in exemplary damages, a minimum of $25,000 in lost wages, benefits plus interest and attorney fees. It also seeks for an injunction to be issued to prevent further discriminatory action.