The fire chief of Fitchburg is suing the city and its mayor, accusing them of retaliation after being placed on leave in March.

According to court documents, former Chief Dante Suarez claims that Mayor Samantha Squailia and the city stripped his position because he spoke out against the mayor — accusing her of leaving Fitchburg without a functioning emergency notification system and undermining the advancement of non-white city employees.

In 2026, Suarez was placed on administrative leave pending an external investigation.

In an email sent to MassLive on Friday, Squailia described the situation “very disappointing” and said the allegations from Suarez are “completely false.”

A struggle over CodeRED

The lawsuit is centered around a dispute about the city’s emergency notification system, CodeRED.

According to court documents, Suarez met with Squailia during her 2023 mayoral campaign. Squailia told Suarez that she planned to eliminate CodeRED as a cost-cutting measure, the lawsuit reads. Suarez advised against the move, with Suarez saying that CodeRED cost the city approximately $10,000 per year out of the fire department’s $8 million to $9 million budget.

Squailia was elected mayor and eliminated CodeRED in her very first budget, the lawsuit reads.

“Suarez, in good faith, believed that CodeRED had been an effective tool for the City in the past and was essential to the public safety of the residents of Fitchburg,” the lawsuit reads. “Rather than accept the elimination of CodeRED without a capable replacement, Suarez persistently and in good faith documented his concerns and pressed Defendants for answers.”

In March 2025, Suarez made multiple attempts to purchase CodeRED directly through the city’s revolving communications account. These funds were specifically designated for communications expenditures, according to the court documents.

These attempts were denied, the documents read.

According to Suarez, the chief procurement officer for the purchasing department informed him that the mayor personally directed the purchasing department to look for any attempt to purchase CodeRED, deny it, and to notify her when an attempt was made.

CodeRED was reinstated but the city transferred its oversight from the fire department to the information technology department, according to the lawsuit.

“Removing CodeRED from Suarez’s supervision after he had spent more than a year objecting to the absence of a functioning ENS was retaliatory and materially diminished his authority as fire chief over a core public-safety function,” the lawsuit reads.

Accusations of discrimination

The lawsuit also centers around accusations of discrimination.

In September 2025, Suarez submitted fire captain promotions for two lieutenants, Rob DaCosta and Jay Roy. DaCosta is a non-white employee, according to the lawsuit. Suarez is a Hispanic man, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit claims that Squailia blocked the chief’s plans to give the promotions and demanded she interview the candidates herself. Suarez claims that this incident was not an isolated one either.

In 2024, the mayor rejected the hiring committee’s recommendation the recommendation that Christopher Garcia, another Hispanic man, be hired as police chief, according to documents. Instead, she chose Steve Gianinni, a white candidate, for the position.

“The city is liable because Squailia acted as a final policymaker for the City concerning the challenged decisions, and because the discriminatory and retaliatory conduct reflected municipal policy, practice, custom, or ratification,” the lawsuit claims. “As a direct and proximate result of defendants’ unlawful conduct, Suarez suffered lost wages, lost benefits, lost authority, reputational harm, emotional distress, attorneys’ fees, costs, and other damages.”

In April 2026, the investigation report into Suarez’s reported misconduct was sent to the defendants.

He claims the investigation is based on false allegations of employee mistreatment and was conducted by Squailia as retaliation for his stance against eliminating CodeRED and other issues.

The defendants told Suarez that he needed to accept a demotion or else be terminated from his job based on the investigation findings.

“Defendants thereby stripped Suarez of his ability to perform as fire chief, damaged his professional reputation, and threatened the termination of the employment relationship unless he accepted a demotion,” the lawsuit states.

Suarez also accused several city individuals, including the mayor, interim Director of Human Resources Brittney Fish, Patrick Haverty, Kervin Lopez and Billy Vautour of trying to unlawfully remove him from his position through the investigation.

The lawsuit also claims that Haverty, a former union president and current acting chief, knew he would be the next choice for fire chief if Suarez was removed. It also claims that current union president Vautour and current union vice president Lopez are close with Haverty.

Suarez is seeking a jury trial on the matter and seeks relief, including the termination of the administrative leave, being awarded punitive damages and being awarded compensatory damages, such as lost wages, lost benefits and lost remuneration

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