A former detective with the Rockland Police Department was paid $150,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit she filed against the city.
The city provided the settlement Sept. 8 after a request filed by Midcoast Villager, in the case involving former Detective Anne Griffith.
In the agreement, the city admits no wrongdoing. Both sides also agreed not to disparage each other.
Of the $150,000 settlement, $60,000 will go toward legal expenses incurred by former Detective Griffith. Griffith resigned on July 23 as part of the settlement.
Insurance is paying for the settlement and covers the city’s legal fees.
She has agreed not to seek future employment with the city government.
Griffith had contended she was demoted and refused reasonable accommodations when she was pregnant. Her attorney, Martin Tartre of the Employee Rights Group in Portland, filed the lawsuit on behalf in July 2025. The case in the U.S. District Court of Portland, was dismissed in August as part of the settlement.
The case had been scheduled for trial starting Oct. 15.
Griffith sought damages that include back pay and lost benefits. She claimed sex discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, retaliation, and disability discrimination. Griffith had filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September 2024 and both agencies in May 2025 provided her with letters allowing her to sue as they had not yet acted on her claims.
Griffith had worked for the Police Department since October 2017. She is a detective.
The veteran public safety officer had asked to work from home during the pregnancy and after but the city denied the accommodation. The lawsuit details the work she would perform remotely.
“She had the right to be accommodated, and to suggest that accommodating her would be unfair to other employees is clear pregnancy discrimination,” the lawsuit stated.
Griffith was not paid for her full hours by Rockland from November 2023 through October 2024. She used paycheck insurance, sick time, and paid time off but ultimately had to go on unpaid leave. Griffith’s maternity leave was going to be covered by PTO and sick time, but because of Rockland’s refusal to accommodate her, her maternity leave was unpaid. The Rockland Fire Department transferred to Griffith a large quantity of banked sick leave because she had used up all of hers.
Griffith said that shortly after her return to work in October 2024, she was informed that her contract with the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit had ended while she was on leave and that the city had elected not to renew it. This decision was surprising to Griffith, the lawsuit stated. Her appointment, one of only two in the state, had been considered a promotion.
“Rockland demoted Griffith by failing to renew her contract with the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Rockland’s demotion was retaliation against Griffith for requesting an accommodation and engaging in protected activity under (state and federal laws). Because the City chose not to renew her contract, Griffith no longer had Statewide jurisdiction and had to relinquish her state-issued cruiser, computers and electronics, and state issued IDs and badge. She also lost access to certain state-wide databases,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit further stated when she returned to work, Rockland gave Griffith the oldest and worst cruiser in its fleet, even though she is the most senior detective in the Police Department.
When Griffith returned to work after maternity leave, she noticed that a lot of her equipment had been taken away from her and not replaced. This included a computer monitor, external speakers, and a handcuff carrier.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.