AUGUSTA — Rumford officials did not discriminate against a woman police officer when they refused to promote her to sergeant, the Maine Human Rights Commission says.

But the panel on Monday did find that police Chief Timothy Bourassa showed bias against women working in law enforcement.

Jacqueline Cote, who has been a Rumford patrol officer since 1980, filed a sex discrimination complaint last year, saying she was denied a promotion to sergeant in 1995, despite being qualified.

The lawyer for the western Maine town, Michael Poulin, said Cote was not considered for promotion because she failed the written portion of the sergeant’s examination.

Bourassa has denied making disparaging statements about women in law enforcement, but a commission investigator cited statements by others who claimed hearing such comments from the chief.