Court documents reveal that the victim in the case against former Hillers Pizza owner Petros “Peter” Sismanis has filed a lawsuit against Sismanis, the Town of Hopkinton, and Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett.

NBC10 Boston broke the story about the lawsuit on Monday. Christopher Waterman, the victim’s attorney, told NBC10 the purpose of the lawsuit is to hold parties accountable “for their actions and inactions,” which the suit alleges resulted in the victim’s assault.

Sismanis was convicted last June of indecent assault of a person over 14 years of age and two counts of witness intimidation. The charges stem from an incident in January 2023 when the Hillers Pizza owner grabbed and kissed the 16-year-old employee in the restaurant’s basement. After the teen attempted to leave the establishment with her mother, Sismanis repeatedly blocked them from leaving the 77 West Main Street plaza.

The civil complaint, obtained by the Independent, recounts the details of the assault and the emotional and psychological impacts on the victim. It goes on to level five counts against the defendants in the case.

Count 4 of the complaint alleges negligence on the part of the town and Chief Bennett. It argues that “the Town and Chief Bennett failed to act on known complaints about Sismanis and his past unlawful conduct, thereby allowing Sismanis continued access to minor employees.” It goes on to state this resulted in negligence that “created a foreseeable risk” to Sismanis’ employees.

Sismanis had prior convictions for sexual assault. He pled guilty to charges in 1998 for assaulting a female employee as his prior Hopkinton business, Jelly Doughnuts. That conviction resulted in him being placed on the sex offender registry. A complaint made against Sismanis in 2017 led to him being brought into an executive session with the Select Board the following year. The newly filed complaint also argues that another Hillers Pizza employee reported Sismanis assaulted her in 2016.

The final count of the complaint alleges that the victim’s due process rights were violated in this incident. “Defendants consciously disregarded known risks posed by Sismanis and failed to implement protective measures despite repeated warnings and the gravity of those threats,” the complaint claims. This, it concludes, is a violation of the victim’s 14th Amendment rights.

What the precise duties the town and the HPD had regarding Sismanis’ history as a sex offender remain unclear. The main flash point in town since Sismanis’ conviction is how Town Hall and the Select Board handle common victualer’s (CV) license applications and renewals.

Residents and individuals invested in justice for the victim have raised questions regarding why Sismanis’ sex offender status and other complaints received by the HPD were never disclosed during any of the CV renewals done for Hillers Pizza by the Select Board since 2016. They also have inquired as to why Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and Sex Offender Registration Information (SORI) checks were not conducted on the Hillers Pizza owner.

Both the town and the HPD have attempted to address these questions. In a letter to the Select Board sent in November, Deputy Chief Scott van Raalten asserted that due to domestic violence laws, the HPD is limited in what information it is allowed to disclose to the public. The letter asserts that the department was “legally prohibited from proactively informing community members about Mr. Sismanis’ sex offender status” as well.

In an interview with the Independent last week following a heated Select Board meeting, Town Manager Elaine Lazarus clarified that her office handles CORI/SORI checks for CV license applications and renewals. Those checks did not become part of the CV process until after Hillers Pizza began operating in town.

Addressing a 2018 entertainment license for which Hillers Pizza applied — and which would have required a CORI — Lazarus admitted that the check was not performed.

That entertainment license policy notes that the CORI requirement “may be waived at the discretion of the [Select] Board if the licensee holds a common victualer’s or liquor license.” Lazarus did not say whether or not the board waived the requirement, but she stated that it “acted in accordance” with a discussion that occurred in an executive session in January 2018.

Lazarus provided the Independent a copy of the Select Board’s executive session from Jan. 30, 2018. The minutes provide redacted details of a conversation between the board, Sismanis and his attorney regarding the 2017 complaints against him. “Mr. Sismanis stated that each complaint and charge was untrue and denied participating in any of the events described,” according to the minutes.

The discussion concludes with the Select Board telling Sismanis that CV license holders are “held to high standards,” and “the behavior alleged is unacceptable.”

The lawsuit against Sismanis, the town and Chief Bennett was filed on Dec. 16. The town’s legal counsel petitioned the case be moved from the Middlesex Superior Court to federal court last week.

Who will represent Sismanis in the case is unclear. The former Hillers Pizza owner has been in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since at least November. The native of Greece could face deportation. As of this reporting, the ICE database put Sismanis at the Imperial Regional Adult Detention Facility in Calexico, California.