State Representative John Gaskey of Carver is facing a civil lawsuit from his former legislative assistant, Kayla Churchill, who accuses him of making unwanted advances, retaliating against her for rejecting them, and ultimately firing her over the phone after learning she had a boyfriend. Churchill, who also serves as a Republican State Committeewoman, filed the five-count complaint in Suffolk Superior Court this month, alleging quid pro quo harassment, a hostile work environment and unlawful retaliation.
The lawsuit, first reported by Axios reporter Mike Deehan, lands months after the Massachusetts House's internal Equal Employment Opportunity Officer found in March that Gaskey did not violate House rules against harassment and discrimination. That internal finding and Churchill's court filing represent two very different standards of review — one an administrative process inside the Legislature, the other a civil case that will need to be proven in Suffolk Superior Court. There is no reported hearing date yet for the case, per Axios.
Allegations Date Back to 2024 Campaign
According to Churchill's complaint, Gaskey's inappropriate conduct began during his 2024 campaign and continued after he took office in January 2025. Gaskey, a 23-year Coast Guard veteran who served as a Chief Petty Officer on the USCGC Escanaba and previously sat as Vice Chair of the Carver Planning Board, won his seat by unseating 11-term Republican incumbent Susan Williams Gifford in the September 2024 primary, taking nearly 59 percent of the vote across Carver, Middleborough and Wareham, according to Wareham Week. Gifford died of cancer weeks after that primary loss, and Gaskey went on to win the general election against a Democratic write-in candidate, per GBH.
Churchill officially became Gaskey's Legislative Assistant in January 2025, the same month he was sworn in as a first-term lawmaker. The complaint describes a pattern of behavior that included Gaskey inviting Churchill to swim in his pool, once telling her, “come by for a swim, and bring the kids, or don't,” and inviting her on a business trip to Indiana that Churchill did not ultimately attend. The suit also alleges Gaskey showed up uninvited at Churchill's hospital room after she was in a minor car crash and later sent her bath salts, candles and body lotion as get-well gifts.
The $1,000 Payment at the Center of the Dispute
Central to the complaint is a $1,000 payment Churchill says she received from Gaskey and his wife, which the lawsuit characterizes as legal defense money to hire an attorney so Churchill could sue a political rival for defamation. Churchill's complaint further alleges that Gaskey resented her boyfriend and that the relationship became a flashpoint in the workplace. She says Gaskey fired her over the phone after learning of that relationship, and accuses him of terminating her after she rejected his advances.
Gaskey's attorney, Michael Walsh, offers a starkly different account of that same $1,000. Walsh has said the payment was a personal gift intended to cover Christmas presents for Churchill's children, and has flatly denied the broader allegations, stating there was “definitely no harassment and no retaliation” and that there is “absolutely no basis to any of these charges.”
A Republican Aide With Her Own Political Profile
Churchill is not a private figure within Massachusetts Republican politics. She was elected in March 2024 as the GOP State Committeewoman for the First Bristol & Plymouth district and chairs the Freetown Republican Town Committee, a role situated within the broader Massachusetts Republican State Committee overseen by chair Amy Carnevale, according to the party's own organizational structure. She previously drew local media attention in 2022 for entering Freetown-Lakeville regional schools under a fake name to test building security screening in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, and ran unsuccessfully for the Freetown-Lakeville school committee in 2023, finishing last with 158 votes, as detailed by the Fall River Reporter.
Gaskey now represents the 2nd Plymouth House District, which covers Carver and Wareham along with several precincts of Middleborough in Plymouth County. The dispute between two figures who both hold visible standing in southeastern Massachusetts GOP circles is likely to reverberate beyond the courtroom, given Churchill's ongoing role in statewide party governance and Gaskey's position as a freshman legislator who unseated a well-known incumbent just two years ago.
Massachusetts law under General Law Chapter 151B recognizes both quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment claims in the workplace, and prohibits retaliation against employees who resist unwanted advances, according to guidance from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. The House's EEO Officer post, created under House Rule 88 in 2018, is intended to conduct independent, confidential investigations of harassment complaints separate from legislative leadership, though its March finding clearing Gaskey does not resolve the civil claims now before Suffolk Superior Court.
