Warwick Defends Embattled Water Director Against Allegations of Sexual Harassment
GoLocalProv News Team
Warwick Defends Embattled Water Director Against Allegations of Sexual Harassment
As GoLocal was first to report in June, former City of Warwick employee Bree Boulais filed a 50-page complaint in federal court, alleging “it was apparent that the leadership of the Water Department seemed to foster an environment of sexism and inappropriateness.”
Bouais named the City of Warwick, the Warwick Water Division, and Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi as defendants.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“To [Boulais] it felt like a ‘boys club’ based on how the men talked about women openly,” according to Boulais' lawsuit. “By the spring of 2022, the environment started to become hostile for [Boulais] because of her sex.”
One of the allegations made by Boulais is that Director Terry DiPetrillo made harassing comments in front of other people, including asking if another male “wanted to run a train on her.”
As GoLocal reported, DiPetrillo oversaw $73,000 in overtime in eighteen months to his brother Michael, who is also named in the lawsuit.
After Boulais' lawsuit alleged anti-semitism and sexual harassment, Warwick Councilman Vinny Gebhart called for DiPetrillo to be dismissed.
Now, in a four-page response to Boulais’ suit filed in federal court, attorney Marc DeSisto, representing the defendants, refuted the majority of Boulais’ claims.
City Refutes Majority of Claims
In its response, the City of Warwick and the Warwick Water Division “by and through Mayor Frank Picozzi” admitted that the parties identified in the complaint are in fact who they say they are.
The City however contests the jurisdiction and venue outlined in the complaint, stating that they are “legal conclusions properly reserved for the Court.”
Here’s what the city “admitted to” — and what it denied.
The City admitted that the following allegations contained in Boulais’ suit were factual.
In or around April of 2021, Plaintiff’s employment began at the Warwick Water Department as Water Project Supervisor, and that following a March 2022 meeting among city officials at the Water Department, City Controller Jason Parmalee sent Boulais an email in which he stated, “I don’t think I ever realized how attractive you are…super cute.”
The City then goes on to refute the chain of event that Boulais alleged occurred afterward, including her allegation that she was offended by Parmalee’s communication “especially since she had a fiancé."
Denials
The City denies that Boulais sent Parmalee an email saying that she “gave no indication” that “sending [her] and email like this, especially through work e-mail” was acceptable; the City also denies she reported it to supervisors.
Moreover, the City denies that Terry DiPetrillo sent her an email which stated, “You look stunning.”
The City denies Boulais’ allegations that in front of coworkers DiPetrillo said, “Bree, I believe I left my socks by your bedside;” the City also denies Boulais’ allegations that DiPetrillo said to coworker Richard Moniz, “Want to come by Bree’s later and run a train on her?”
In their response, the City also denies that Michael DiPetrillo through a power tool at her in the parking lot and then said it fell off the back of his truck.
The City did admit that DiPetrillo, in the company of coworkers, asked who Boulais said was a Jewish collage, “Do you want to hear my Nazi joke?” and then open-palm slapped him in the face.
DiPetrillo was arrested over the incident.
The city denied however that “the slap was audible’ and that it left a mark on the victim’s face.
Moreover, the City denied Boulais’s claim that the victim is in fact Jewish.
As GoLocal reported, DiPetrillo has now taken two months of medical leave since the filing of the lawsuit.