Why the former Milford police chief is suing the town over his 2021 firing. What's next

MILFORD — Former Police Chief Michael Pighetti has filed a lawsuit against the town and its three Select Board members, saying they breached his contract when he was fired in September 2021.

Pighetti filed the suit in November in Worcester Superior Court, naming the town's three Select Board members — Paul Mazzuchelli, Thomas O'Loughlin and Michael Walsh — and the town itself. The suit alleges the Select Board's decision to terminate Pighetti was a breach of the town's obligation to him.

Pighetti is seeking $217,208 in lost wages.

"My client doesn't believe he was treated fairly," Dennis Brown, a Framingham-based attorney who is representing Pighetti, told the Daily News in a phone interview. "He was a loyal employee and did the job faithfully."

Earlier: Milford Police Chief Pighetti fired after board determines he breached contract

Pighetti is suing on five counts, including two regarding breach of contract; and one each of defamation, deprivation of due process and interference with contractual relations.

The complaint states that O'Loughlin alleged that Pighetti misrepresented the Police Department’s budget and accused him of creating positions within the Police Department without having the authority to do so.

Pighetti's lawsuit also states that O'Loughlin, himself a former Milford police chief, continued to make "unproven" and "unfounded" allegations about Pighetti and the Police Department budget during an Aug. 10, 2020, Select Board meeting.

Pighetti was fired in 2021 when Select Board concluded he breached his contract

Pighetti was fired by the Select Board in September 2021 after it concluded his actions during a traffic stop in January of that year represented a breach of contract. Pighetti did not have full police powers because he had been out of police work for more than five years at the time of his appointment as interim chief in mid-2019.

Pighetti explained his actions in a letter distributed by a Worcester law firm to several media outlets a month after the traffic stop. In the letter, Pighetti said he was driving his town-issued, unmarked police cruiser on Jan. 28, 2021, when he saw a vehicle run a red light near downtown Milford. He saw the vehicle speed, cross the center line and nearly hit parked vehicles, he said.

Pighetti then activated his emergency lights and siren to pull the vehicle over.

“I obviously was concerned by these observations,” he wrote in the letter, “not only based upon the potential harm that it created for persons and property in the area, but also because it could have been the case that the driver was suffering from a medical emergency or otherwise was impaired.”

'Legitimate' and 'justified': Milford police chief defends his actions regarding traffic stop

According to Pighetti's lawsuit, the Select Board retained Thomas Greene, of Blackstone-based Greene Shield Protection, to investigate the incident.

"Greene was neither an independent nor an unbiased investigator, as he had previous undisclosed financial relationships with O’Loughlin and/or O’Loughlin’s law firm," Pighetti's lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Greene's report to the Select Board reflected the desires of O'Loughlin, whom Pighetti claims held a grudge against him — Pighetti was named interim chief after O'Loughlin's contract expired in June 2019. Pighetti also claims that despite his requests, neither he nor his attorney was allowed to present Pighetti's side of the story or contest any of the evidence presented against him.

Town and Select Board file response to Pighetti's lawsuit

The town filed its response to the lawsuit on Dec. 27. In it, Select Board members deny they made comments about Pighetti misrepresenting the Police Department budget, or that O'Loughlin accused Pighetti of creating unauthorized positions within the department.

The Select Board also denies the sequence of events Pighetti described during the traffic stop that led to his termination. Pighetti says in his lawsuit that days after the incident, the Select Board received a complaint saying the traffic stop was unauthorized — a complaint Pighetti says was sent by O'Loughlin or someone at his behest.

Select Board members also deny any conflict of interest in the appointment of Greene to investigate the incident. They further say Pighetti's claims are barred for a number of reasons, including the plaintiff's failure to comply with the statue of limitations.

Walsh and Mazzuchelli are being represented by the town's attorney, state Rep. Brian Murray, D-Milford. Murray did not return requests for comment.

O'Loughlin is represented by Boston-based Leonard Kesten, of Brody, Hardoon, Perkins and Kesten. Kesten also represents O'Loughlin in a separate lawsuit against the town.

"I'm quite confident O'Loughlin will be vindicated in this matter," Kesten told the Daily News on Wednesday. "He did everything to protect the people of Milford."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Former Milford police chief sues town, claiming breach of contract