Two Woodstock police officers and a former dispatcher file suit in federal court – Daily Freeman

In this image from a Freeman video, Woodstock Police Chief Clayton Keefe is seen during the Woodstock Halloween festivities on October 31, 2023. (Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)

WOODSTOCK, NY — Two Woodstock police officers and a former dispatcher have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, Police Chief Clayton Keefe and Officer Philip Sinagra, alleging sexually inappropriate, racist and sexually charged comments.

Officers Tiffany Croizer and Gabrielle Lalima and former dispatcher Michelle Sullivan filed the lawsuit in March. Attorney Sue Edwards of New City, who represents Croizer, Lalima and Sullivan, has not responded to multiple requests for comment or a copy of the lawsuit.

On Thursday, May 23, City Councilman Bill McKenna said he had no comment and would neither confirm nor deny the existence of a lawsuit. Keefe and Sinagra did not respond to requests for comment.

In a formal complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in May 2023, Croizer, Lilima and Sullivan, along with Officer Brian Williams and Sgt. Adam McGrath, alleged that the city police department tolerated sexually inappropriate comments from the chief, as well as racist and sexually charged comments from Sinagra, and then retaliated when their complaints were raised internally.

In an email, an EEOC spokesperson wrote: “Under federal law, we are prohibited from commenting on charges (complaints/claims) or confirming or denying the existence of a charge. Any written records or decisions resulting from a charge or resulting investigation are also subject to confidentiality law. Only if and when the EEOC files a lawsuit may we provide information.”

The five-page EEOC motion, filed on May 22, 2023, in the commission’s New York District Office, details complaints from the past three years and alleges that actions were taken against Officers Williams, Croizer, Lilima, Sullivan and McGrath “aimed at deterring them from filing further complaints.”

In the complaint, Croizer alleged that he was subjected to “derogatory comments” while breastfeeding in 2020.

“Officer Croizer was the subject of offensive comments that stated that her milk pumping was ‘milked,'” the complaint states. “Officer Croizer was forced to pump milk in an unheated storage room and under unsanitary conditions… (and) she was often denied the opportunity to pump milk when it would have been medically necessary, and this denial directly led to her developing demonstrable infections and medical problems.”

The complaint also noted that Police Chief Clayton Keefe said, among other things, “Who is she to sit here and scare them?” Croizer was allegedly not scheduled on the shift and was denied the opportunity to receive firearms training, according to the complaint.

When the complaint was filed, Edwards, who filed the complaint, wrote that the city refused to hire an independent investigator and instead relied on an “inadequate” investigation by McKenna.

“Despite the confirmed allegations … McKenna insists he was ‘impressed’ with Officer Sinagra,” she wrote.

Sinagra has been on paid administrative leave since the complaint was filed.