A Northbridge teen is suing Hopkinton town officials over their decision to allow a sex offender to operate the pizza parlor at which she was assaulted while a 16-year-old employee.
The lawsuit, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court last month, also includes counts against the plaintiff’s former employer, Petros “Peter” Sismanis, for his mistreatment of her in the workplace.
Sismanis is the former owner and operator of Hillers Pizza on West Main Street in Hopkinton. He closed the business in September 2025 — less than three months after he was found guilty of assaulting the plaintiff at the pizza parlor in January 2023.
In the lawsuit, which was transferred to federal court last week, the now-18-year-old plaintiff argues that the Hopkinton Select Board and Police Chief Joseph Bennett were negligent in granting and renewing Sismanis’ license to operate Hillers Pizza given his criminal record, which includes a conviction on an indecent assault of a minor charge.
The plaintiff is seeking monetary damages from Sismanis on the basis that the assault created a hostile work environment for her, forced her to resign from her job and constitutes an intentional infliction of emotional distress. She’s also pursuing damages from Hopkinton town officials on the basis that their inaction put her at risk.
Sismanis was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody as of the lawsuit’s filing in December, according to the lawsuit. He could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Bennett and the Hopkinton Select Board did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.
What happened at Hillers Pizza
The plaintiff had been working at Hillers Pizza for over a year when Sismanis assaulted her on Jan. 12, 2023, according to the lawsuit. During her shift, she asked him where overstock items were kept, and he took her down to the basement to show her.
While the two were alone in the basement, Sismanis suddenly began kissing and groping her.
“[Plaintiff] was terrified, frozen and in shock. She did not know what to do or how to respond to this unwelcome advance, and stood still while he continued kissing her,” the lawsuit reads.
The plaintiff tried to pull away, but was unable to, and the assault continued for several minutes, according to the lawsuit. Afterward, Sismanis immediately claimed it was a ‘mistake’ and pleaded with her to keep it a secret, saying she was ‘too young.’“
“[Plaintiff] was confused, distraught and fearful. Shortly thereafter, [plaintiff] went to the bathroom and cried uncontrollably.”
The plaintiff then called her mother and told her what happened, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff’s mother soon came to the pizza parlor to take her daughter home and was confronted by Sismanis.
Sismanis begged the plaintiff’s mother not to report him to police, but she rebuffed him, according to the lawsuit. He then tried to stop the mother and daughter from leaving the restaurant by physically blocking them from getting in the mother’s car and from driving away.
The fallout
The plaintiff’s mother called the police on the day of the incident, sparking a criminal investigation into the assault, according to the lawsuit. Sismanis was soon charged in connection with the incident, and in June 2025, a jury found him guilty of indecent assault and battery and two counts of witness intimidation.
But the plaintiff “continues to suffer emotional and physical pain” as a result of the assault, and has been forced to seek professional counseling, according to the lawsuit.
“She is overwhelmed with feelings of shame, humiliation, and suffocating sadness,” the lawsuit reads. “She now harbors a deep feeling of distrust of men which makes interacting with them, in any environment, difficult and unhealthy. This trauma at times makes completing even the most basic daily tasks seem almost impossible.”
The plaintiff has also become “withdrawn from life in general” and suffers from stress, trauma, anger, insomnia and anxiety, according to the lawsuit.
“She feels as if her dignity has been stripped from her,” the lawsuit reads.
What Hopkinton town officials knew
In September 1997, Sismanis was charged with two counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over in connection with an incident that happened in Hopkinton, according to the lawsuit. He pleaded guilty to the charges, was sentenced to probation and registered as a level 2 sex offender the following year.
The lawsuit alleges that there are “several other prior complaints made by female employees against Sismanis in Hopkinton’s public records.” It provides two examples — one from 2016 and one from 2017 — in which his former staff reported him to police. At least one of the two complaints involved sexual assault allegations.
Sismanis has been renewing his license to operate Hillers Pizza with the town of Hopkinton since at least as far back as 2016, according to the lawsuit. The renewal process involves the town manager’s office forwarding applications to town departments — including police — to review and provide feedback.
“There is no record of Hopkinton police or Chief Bennett ever raising questions about Sismanis’ ability to operate the pizza shop, even though he was a registered sex offender,” the lawsuit reads. “The Town, the Hopkinton Police Department and Chief Joseph Bennettt knew or should have known of Sismanis’ criminal record and his status as a level 2 registered sex offender.”
Furthermore, even after Sismanis was charged in connection with the assault on the plaintiff at the pizza parlor, town officials still granted his license to operate, according to the lawsuit.
“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,” the lawsuit reads. ” … The Town and Chief Bennett knew or should have known that its failure to act on known risks related to Sismanis created a foreseeable risk to employees.”
