New London — He started working for the city in 2014 and since that time, former risk manager Paul Gills has focused on shielding the city from litigation and mitigating liabilities.

In a role reversal, he has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming his abrupt resignation in February was the result of bullying by the mayor’s chief administrative officer, Steve Fields.

Gills is seeking an unspecified amount in damages in excess of $15,000 and claims, among other charges contained in the suit, that he was wrongfully terminated. He is suing for damages including lost wages and benefits, emotional distress, mental anguish and legal fees.

The suit was filed in New London Superior Court on Aug. 13. A response from the city has not yet been filed in court.

Gills argues in the suit that the acceptance of his offer to resign following a Feb. 27 confrontation with Fields was retribution. He argues that he essentially was forced to resign over the latest in a series of disagreements regarding labor issues that led to constant friction between the two men.

In the February incident, Gills claims Fields had been angered after Gills sent emails regarding the status of an employee’s workers' compensation claim and medical opinion that the employee was headed toward recovery and return to work. Gills’ opinion was the employee should be brought back on modified duty but Gills said Fields refused to bring the employee back and would not challenge the union.

Fields, he said, had warned him on multiple occasions against sending emails with too much information that could become public with a Freedom of Information Act request. Gills' response to Fields about the emails was that he was aware of FOIA requirements and astute enough to not include information that could create a potential liability.

After Fields threatened discipline, Gills said, “I quit and will not take this intimidation, harassment and bullying.”

It was not the first dispute with Fields, who Gills argues “is easily enraged and becomes belligerent when challenged on City decisions or when Gills took a differing view of an issue than his,” he alleges in the suit.

In his suit, Gills alleges labor issues had cropped up shortly after his hire that showed Fields and Mayor Michael Passero were hesitant to discipline certain employees and failed to heed his advice on what he considered to be liability issues.

Gills said he had even offered to resign prior to this year. In 2018, Gills had recommended disciplinary action or firing of a Public Works employee involved in multiple motor vehicle incidents, including one in which a snowplow struck a vehicle occupied by an infant. In a separate incident, Gills claimed the same employee was driving a trash hauler when another employee was thrown off the back of the truck.

He alleges that the employee was not disciplined but instead sent to driver training, which he at first had failed. The employee had worked on Passero’s mayoral campaign, however, and Gills claimed that “because of his political connection to the Mayor, was given secret preferential treatment to retake the driving test that he ultimately passed.”

Gills said he was offered a job in another municipality at that time and had submitted his resignation but was convinced to remain with the city.

In another case, Gills alleges an unidentified union president and friend of Passero was allowed several weeks on administrative leave even though he was cleared to work by a physician. The $175,000 paid to the employee in a settlement, Gills claims, was beyond statutory workers compensation requirements and union contracts.

He said Passero also asked him “what he could do” to get a firefighter who was the subject of harassment a disability pension with full benefits, the suit alleges.

In yet another alleged incident, Gills alleges city administrators steered the process of relocating city offices to one applicant despite concerns he had raised about possible criminal behavior. While it is not referenced in the suit, the city has negotiated with Julian Enterprises for an office complex to move city offices. The City Council later voted against the move and Jason Julian, a partner in Julian Enterprises, has since been arrested in an unrelated case outside the city on charges of larceny, forgery and illegal dumping.

“The Plaintiff engaged in constitutionally protected activity when he reported on the risks associated with the proper handling of matters and not allowing favoritism to influence City decision-making,” the suit alleges. “The plaintiff also engaged in constitutionally protected activity when he addressed Field’s inappropriate orders with respect to FOIA avoidance.”

City Attorney Jeffrey Londregan and Passero declined comment, citing the pending litigation. Londregan was among other attorneys in the meeting where Gills resigned and the case is likely to be handled by an outside firm.

Attorney Theodore Heiser, who represents Gills in the suit, explained that Gills may have technically resigned but the law allows for wrongful termination claims in situations known as “constructive discharge,” the premise being the employer caused a situation untenable for the employee.

Heiser said Gills is open to resolve the matter and has no interest in a protracted litigation.

“Paul was very committed to his position with the city. We think his record speaks for itself as to how things went from a risk management perspective. Paul was proud of those results,” Heiser said.

Gills, with 36 years of experience in the field, was hired as a consultant by the city in 2014 under former Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio and came on as a full-time employee when Passero was elected in 2015.

In 2018 the city was honored with an Excellence in Risk Management Award from the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency for helping control liability and establishment of risk management procedures.

In April, the City Council approved a three-month contract for risk management services with USI Insurance Services LLC to cover the duties of risk manager.

g.smith@theday.com