A lieutenant in the Westbrook Fire Department has been demoted and five other members of the department, including the deputy chief, are being suspended for up to two months, in the wake of an investigation into charges of sexual harassment.

In total, seven firefighters are being punished for inappropriate actions and language in the workplace or failure to properly deal with complaints that contributed to a hostile work environment, according to letters Mayor Bruce Chuluda sent last week to the firefighters who were disciplined.

Rebecca Webber, attorney for the two female firefighters who are behind the complaints, said Tuesday the punishments are far too lenient, given the nature of the conduct that led to the investigation, which, she said, ranged “from sexual assault to engaging in sexual acts at fire stations to watching pornography at fire stations to threats to inappropriate conduct with rescue patients.”

However, Attorney Howard Reben, who represents the Teamsters Local 340, said he was “shocked and disappointed by the harshness of the penalty” placed on a lieutenant who was demoted.

In the shakeup, Donald Trafford was demoted from lieutenant to firefighter and suspended for one week. Firefighter Matt Lamontagne was suspended for 60 days. Deputy Chief Thaddeus Soltys and per diem firefighters Jim Harbaugh, Meagan Breau and Ron Giroux were suspended for two weeks, and Capt. Peter Mullin received a letter of reprimand. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said all the suspensions are without pay.

The punishments are the result of a months-long investigation into the department, following sexual harassment complaints by female firefighters Kathy Rogers and Lisa Theberge, who have been on administrative leave, at their request, since September.

“There are those who will second guess these recent actions from every angle – those who think the discipline was inadequate and those who think the discipline was too harsh,” said Police Chief Bill Baker, who has been acting as fire chief since the retirement of Gary Littlefield in October.

Baker’s hope, however, is that the that the firefighters can “move past this unfortunate chapter, make this department all that it can be and provide the citizens of Westbrook the highest quality fire and EMS services.”

Chuluda, who has selected former Kennebunkport fire chief Daniel Brock to head the department, said he, too, is looking to the future.

“We’re all lamenting the issues in the department over the past years,” Chuluda said. “I just want to move forward.”

This fall, a series of events threw the long-troubled department back into the public eye. In September, the city received a notice of claim stating that Theberge was seeking damages, under the Maine Human Rights Acts, due to “sexual harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination on the basis of gender, retaliation, and whistle blower discrimination.” Within weeks, Littlefield announced his retirement and several other members of the department were placed on leave.

The fire department was then put in the hands of Baker, who has proven himself as a leader in the police department. Though Littlefield has maintained that his retirement was not related to the complaints, he was named in a suit Rogers brought against the city in 2003, which resulted in a favorable decision from the Maine Human Rights commission and a $76,000 settlement. Rogers also settled with the city after filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in 1994.

According to the Maine Human Rights Commission, no public information on whether Theberge or Rogers has filed a complaint is available. Webber said she cannot comment on any Maine Human Rights Commission actions for any client until the matter appears on the commission’s agenda.

Webber’s comments on the punishment described for the first time publicly details of the conduct in the department that led her clients to file a complaint. She was unavailable Tuesday to elaborate.

Bryant said the city takes harassment, discrimination and inappropriate behavior in the workplace very seriously, and it has invested time and money into training and educating city employees on workplace behavior.

The firefighters’ suspensions are staggered throughout the next two months in order to manage the workforce and control the amount of overtime that needs to be used, Bryant said.

Pending the City Council’s approval, Brock is scheduled to begin serving as fire chief on Jan. 6.