The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities has returned a positive merit assessment review regarding the civil rights and retaliation accusations against North Haven Town Hall from former employee Leigh Gomez.

The finding will push the case to either a mediation session with the CHRO or a hearing in a public court, according to Gomez’s attorney Eugene Axelrod, of Axelrod and Associates in Woodbridge.

Axelrod and his client alleged in May that Town Hall had discriminated against Gomez, an African American and former executive secretary to First Selectman Janet McCarty, by removing her from her position in a roundabout fashion. Axelrod and Gomez claimed that in February through April, McCarty and Director of Community Services Gerardo Sorkin had promised and then denied Gomez a series of town positions to tempt her resignation, rather than directly dismiss a minority.

Upon failing to receive any of the positions allegedly promised to her, Gomez said that she was told by McCarty that she would lose town employment on July 1, and did so. Axelrod and his client allege that McCarty’s motivation in terminating her former executive secretary was that Gomez failed to embrace partisan politics.

Axelrod and his client further claimed that once Town Hall received their original complaint, Gomez received retaliation, including relocation from the First Selectman’s office to a desk in the library without a phone or computer.

McCarty has consistently said that Gomez was terminated simply for poor work performance, including an inability to write press releases or understand local government. The First Selectman has also claimed that Gomez was never promised any of the three town positions her former executive secretary alleges she was.

In response to Town Hall’s denial of wrongdoing, Axelrod and Gomez filed a civil rights and retaliation complaint dually with the CHRO and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May. After receiving evidence from the two sides of the dispute, both commissions recently responded in momentary favor of Gomez.

“They have determined that the complaint that has been raised against the respondents has demonstrated sufficient merit and should be retained for further review,” Axelrod said when reached for comment.

“We will either go to a mediation and fact finding, which would stay within the CHRO,” Axelrod added, “or, if my client wants to, we can go to a public court.”

A CHRO mediation session would allow both parties to resolve the matter under the sponsorship of the Connecticut commission, according to Axelrod. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, a CHRO hearing officer would hold a full, recorded hearing. Additionally, the CHRO would perform a fact finding session, and both sides would present their cases with witnesses before the hearing officer.

The hearing officer would then write a decision in favor of one of the sides, Axelrod said. The decision would not necessarily be final, as the opportunity would remain to proceed to a CHRO sponsored public hearing, which would be much closer in form to a public trial, according to Axelrod.

“Fact finding is quite often the final step for parties, but they are not required to end that there,” he said.

Gomez can also choose to break her case off from the CHRO and take the matter to a public court.

“At this point, we have satisfied all the prerequisites contained in the statutes required to go to public court,” Axelrod said.

A decision on how to move forward has not yet been reached. “I have met recently with my client, and she’s considering her options,” Axelrod said.

Part of the considerations includes the results from the Nov. 3 town elections. McCarty was defeated by her opponent Michael Freda for the First Selectman seat, and will leave office on Nov. 30.

“It has had some impact,” Axelrod said of the election’s repercussions with regards to the case. “I can’t say at this moment if it has changed the case, but it’s certainly a consideration involving my client, and the town as well.”

Despite the First Selectman’s departure, and any related, future political rearranging, the three respondents, McCarty, Sorkin, and Town Hall, remain culpable in the case, according to Axelrod.

“They did reviews for all three named in the case, and all three came back positive,” he said. “It didn’t have to happen for all three, but it did. The liability for their actions remains.”

Axelrod said that he expected the finding.

“It really doesn’t surprise us,” he said. “We analyzed the case before we took it, and we believed that the facts supported the claims. The CHRO determination confirms our analysis. The question now is what options to pursue.”

Axelrod cautioned that this finding is merely an early step in a larger process.

“This is an initial finding,” he said. “It is not a final determination. We’re not saying that this is anything more than an initial determination based on the evidence provided by all parties.”

Several attempts to contact North Haven town attorneys about the matter were unsuccesful.