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Former East Haven Battalion Chief files sex discrimination lawsuit against town, fire department

She was the first career woman firefighter in East Haven.

EAST HAVEN, Conn. — A former East Haven Battalion Chief is suing the East Haven Fire Department and the town of East Haven.

In the lawsuit, her lawyer alleges that the Town of East Haven and its fire department failed to promote former Battalion Chief Eileen Parlato based on her sex. 

“I was not ready to leave. I worked hard for 16 years to work towards this position,” said former East Haven Battalion Chief, Eileen Parlato. 

After almost 30 years of service at the East Haven Fire Department, 16 as a Battalion chief and 12 as the first career woman firefighter. 

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Now retired Eileen Parlato’s career,  years of blood, sweat, and tears, and the reasons she said she is leaving it behind are detailed in a 22-page lawsuit against the Town of East Haven and its fire department for sex discrimination. 

Eileen Parlato “It’s still a male-dominated profession and I have been overlooked as a female,” said Parlato. 

According to the lawsuit, Parlato applied for the assistant chief position last year.

“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. It wasn’t my choice to retire under these circumstances,” said Parlato. 

Parlato and one other employee within the fire department applied for the position, the only internal candidates.

He had been a battalion chief for 11 months. Parlato said she trained him for that position.

But Parlato did not move to the next level of interviews with the board of fire commissioners, citing her accomplishments, fire department leadership experience, and performance in the oral interview process.

Ultimately, the male internal candidate was hired for the assistant chief job.

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“I felt a serious sense of Deja Vu like here we are again,”

That’s because she said the department also tried to prevent her from becoming the first career woman firefighter there. 

“Women need to be in positions of leadership and the process needs to be fair and the people running the process need to run it fairly,” said Parlato.  “If someone has to stand up and fight for the injustices then I am going to be that person.” 

The town’s attorney Michael J. Luzzi responded to the lawsuit and said:

“It is unfortunate that Ms. Parlato is choosing to end her career in this fashion. The process to select our Assistant Chief was largely based upon the unbiased evaluations of an outside independent panel.  It is simply shameful that Ms. Parlato and her lawyer now choose to attack our department, a department which has supported numerous Parlato family members for years.   Relevant facts matter, and as this litigation unfolds the record will unmistakably reflect that it was not the Town that attempted to manipulate this process.  After receiving a letter from Parlato’s lawyer, we immediately responded.  Not only did we dispute her ill-conceived facts and threats, but we also demanded that a litigation hold be placed to preserve all Parlato’s correspondence related to this matter. 

Undoubtedly- it is always best to avoid litigation when possible—however, when forced onto this path, no stone can be left unturned. If anyone has followed anything over the last three years in East Haven, they can see that our Town employs some of the finest labor and litigation attorneys in the Northeast. We are on sound legal ground in this matter, and we will defend it accordingly”

As for Parlato: “Hopefully things will go my way but if they don’t I still feel confident in standing up for me and for other women,” said Parlato. 

Parlato’s lawsuit said that the campaign against her was started by EHFD’s Chief. The campaign allegedly included a series of misconduct, including:

  • The chief changed the format of the assistant chief exam from written to only oral, making the process more subjective

  • The Chief hand-picked three individuals who would compromise the panel of interviews for the oral exam

  • The panel assisted the male candidate during his interview when asked a question he struggled on 

  • The chief drafted a new job description for the AC role. Had the job description stayed the same for internal candidates, the male candidate would have not been qualified

DeAndria Turner is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. She can be reached at dturner@fox61.com. 

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