Swampscott Fire Lt. Todd Seligman has a complaint filed with the Essex County Superior Court against the Town of Swampscott, Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald, and Fire Chief Graham Archer alleging instances of discrimination and wage violations.

Seligman initially filed his complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination on Feb. 17, 2023, before removing it from MCAD and filing with Essex County Superior Court on May 10.

“He didn’t want to be litigating in two forms,” Suzy Herold, Seligman’s attorney, said. “It went over to Superior Court because it is both a discrimination claim and then he has some Wage Act and more contract-based claims.”

A major component of the complaint is related to Seligman’s dyslexia. He alleges he was not properly accommodated during promotional exams by the Civil Service Human Resources Department and subsequently discriminated against professionally and personally throughout his career due to the disorder.

The defendants are denying a large portion of Seligman’s complaint.

“The defendants Town of Swampscott, Sean Fitzgerald, and Graham Archer demand that the plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed, that judgment be entered in favor of said defendants, and that said defendants be awarded their costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees,” defense Attorneys Michele Randazzo and Darren Klein said in a statement on behalf of their clients.

Archer declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. Fitzgerald suggested that his position prevents him from providing the full context.

“These employees have the right to file whatever they want to file… I think folks on one side might have no problem throwing out their own aspirations or concerns they want,” Fitzgerald said. “But the town has to be very judicious in terms of how we approach this because we don’t want to do anything that would harm anybody’s due process.”

Randazzo emphasized that the town is vigorously defending itself against the claim.

Seligman’s complaint

Seligman became a full-time firefighter for the Swampscott Fire Department on Oct. 7, 2005. In November 2015 and November 2017, he took the lieutenant promotional exam administered by the Civil Service Human Resources Department. In both instances, he did not pass. Seligman said he was denied a reader both times by the department, despite claiming he was granted one in past instances. The defendants neither confirmed nor denied that claim, citing insufficient information.

“Since making the department aware of his disabilities, Mr. Seligman has been on the receiving end of ‘jokes’ about his reading, writing, and speech throughout his career with Swampscott,” the complaint reads. “When Chief Archer was captain, he made disparaging comments about Mr. Seligman’s speech (he often does not pronounce the ending of words correctly and Chief Archer would call Mr. Seligman out on it, knowing that it was because of his disability.)”

The defendants denied that allegation.

In November 2018, Seligman passed a captain exam, despite allegedly being denied a reader once again. In January 2019, Seligman underwent a psychological evaluation by Dr. Kevin Tobin. Tobin’s diagnosis included an affirmation of dyslexia, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. One month later, Dr. Nathan Doty, a clinical psychologist who specializes in dyslexia, wrote a letter in support of Seligman’s need for a reader during promotional tests.

In November 2019, Seligman passed the lieutenant promotional exam but again claims he was denied a reader. Throughout the following weeks, Seligman was denied two promotions, and his complaint alleges the denials were discriminatory in nature.

“Mr. Seligman was denied a temporary lieutenant position, which was given to Firefighter Bob Pickett, who was not on any promotional list,” the complaint reads. “On Dec. 10, 2019, Mr. Seligman was denied a temporary promotion that was given to Lt. James Snow. Mr. Snow lives well outside the 10-15 mile radius, which made him technically ineligible under Civil Service requirements.”

The defendants acknowledged that Seligman was denied the promotions, but responded that Pickett was in fact on a Civil Service promotional list and ranked higher than Seligman at the time. The defendants denied the claim that Snow was ineligible for promotion because of where he lived.

In January 2020, Seligman met with Archer, Fitzgerald, and Human Resources to “clear the air” after Seligman said to Archer that Fitzgerald was retaliating against him because he had contacted his union about perceived discriminatory acts against him.

“In that meeting, Mr. Fitzgerald outwardly discriminated against Mr. Seligman by stating that Mr. Seligman may not be ‘ready’ for a promotion and suggested that he be ‘mentored’,” the complaint reads. “He then went on to accuse Mr. Seligman of having poor ‘communication skills.’”

The defendants denied the alleged statements of Fitzgerald, any retaliation on his part, and Seligman’s claim that Archer agreed with him that Fitzgerald’s conduct was unusual at the time. Ahead of the meeting, Seligman was again denied a temporary promotion to lieutenant. The promotion was given to Tom O’Neill, who Seligman said was not on a promotional list. Unlike the previous instances, the defendants admitted that O’Neill was not on any promotional list.

In April 2020, Seligman was promoted to the position of permanent lieutenant. However, the complaint alleges that it came after Archer advocated for Seligman and Fitzgerald was advised that skipping Seligman could result in a lawsuit. The defendants denied that those reasons prompted Seligman’s promotion.

In December 2020, Seligman was promoted to temporary captain. The complaint alleges he was wrongfully required to interview for the position due to being the only certified individual on the promotional list for captain. The complaint also claims two other individuals were interviewed who were not on that list, and that Fitzgerald purposefully delayed the promotion.

“Again, Mr. Fitzgerald made discriminatory comments about Mr. Seligman and the promotion, including, on information and belief, a comment to Mr. Snow that that Mr. Seligman is ‘the poster child as to why (the department) needs to come out of Civil Service,’” the complaint reads.

The defendants denied all the claims related to Seligman’s temporary captain promotion and refuted the accusation of a delay, responding that the promotion took place approximately one week after the position was made available.

Between April and August of 2022, Seligman was denied a temporary captain promotion on two occasions. Soon after, he began treatment with a clinical psychologist due to “extreme mental health issues as a result of the defendants’ discrimination.” He took a leave of absence on Sept. 17, 2022 and returned on July 23, 2023.

Herold noted that her client’s case is still in the discovery phase and that whether the case ends in a trial or settlement remains to be seen.

“I can tell you statistically, like 95% of these cases settle,” Herold said. “So there’s no reason to think that he couldn’t end up with that outcome.”