WESTBROOK, Maine - The city of Westbrook will pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit by two female police officers who accused their male supervisors of gender discrimination.
The officers, Sandra Mailman and Melissa May, will each receive $30,000 and remain on the police force. The other $40,000 will pay legal fees.
Rebecca Webber, the attorney for both women, tells the Portland Press Herald that the moving force behind the settlement agreement was to address past discrimination. The leadership has changed since the allegations were made, and the police chief is now a woman.
Edward Benjamin Jr., an attorney for the city of Westbrook, says the discrimination claims brought by Mailman and May occurred before Janine Roberts became chief in 2014.