Westbrook officials are carefully measuring their public responses as they await court proceedings for a gender bias suit filed late last month by two Westbrook police officers.

The lawsuit, filed by officers Melissa May and Sandy Mailman, claims that the department has demonstrated a pattern of gender bias dating back to 2011, and that the city has failed to properly investigate their claims of harassment.

Mayor Colleen Hilton called the suit “disappointing” this week, but declined to elaborate. “To comment further at this time would be a disservice to all parties,” she said.

The city had hoped to avoid a suit after the pair filed separate notices of intent to file a claim more than a year ago.

May and Mailman say they have been victims of harassment and retaliation within the department, including multiple instances of fellow officers using derogatory language to describe them.

May’s initial 77-page notice of claim, filed in August 2014, said she had been the victim of harassment ever since a routine traffic stop in January 2014, when she ticketed the girlfriend of a fellow officer.

Like May, Mailman said in her September 2014 notice that the department and city officials were slow to respond to a formal complaint of retaliation that was made in April 2014, and that following the complaint, she was the target of further bullying from fellow officers.

Both women are represented by attorney Rebecca Webber of Skelton, Taintor and Abbott in Auburn, who has successfully represented many other similar cases throughout Maine, including two female Westbrook firefighters’ sexual harassment suit in 2008. In 2010, it was revealed that the firefighters, Kathy Rogers and Lisa Theberge, received more than $470,000 and $360,000, respectively, in settlement payments.

Webber declined to comment on the police suit Monday, saying she didn’t feel it was appropriate “to litigate a case in the media.”

Ed Benjamin, a lawyer with the Portland firm Drummond Woodsum, which represents the city’s insurance carrier, is handling the case for the city. Benjamin said Wednesday that Webber filed the suit in district court, and he then had the case moved to federal court, which can speed up the process. He said he received a court “scheduling order” Wednesday morning, which lays out the next several steps in the case, which includes a five-month-long discovery process.

Neither May nor Mailman responded to requests for comment by the paper’s deadline. Police chief Janine Roberts said she had no comment.

May and Mailman remain on active duty in the department.

Hilton said in an email Wednesday that the allegations raised in the complaint will be addressed in a timetable set by the court.

“I want to assure all Westbrook residents, businesses and visitors that our police department continues to perform at the highest level in service to our community,” she said, adding, “We support all of the women and men of the department.”

The lawsuit comes during a period of transition for the Westbrook Police Department, which has been under new leadership since last year. Former Director of Public Safety Michael Pardue resigned in September 2014, but said it had nothing to do with May’s claim.

Following Pardue’s exit, Roberts and Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte were hired, moves that have been deemed successful for the city. Officials have declined to offer comment on why the suit was filed following changes in the department, including the hiring of a female police chief.

“To date, the city has still not investigated Officer May’s complaints,” Webber said in the 22-page lawsuit. “In addition, Mailman and May continue to face harassment and retaliation based on their gender and their initiation of this complaint. The police department continues to enforce policies in a way that treats people differently because of their gender.”

Hilton said the city conducted both internal and independent investigations into the harassment claims.