A federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit former Boston police commissioner Dennis White filed against the city and former acting mayor Kim Janey after finding nothing “materially” or “deliberately” false in the statements she made about him.

In a 74-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin on Monday dismissed claims that Janey defamed White when she fired him three years ago, spoke publicly about her decision, and released a commissioned report detailing a probe into how the police department dealt with White’s decades-old domestic abuse allegations.

“White is understandably upset that Janey fired him,” Sorokin wrote. “He no doubt sincerely believes nothing about what transpired 20 years earlier should have impaired his ability to become commissioner, despite Janey’s contrary conclusion.”

Sorokin found that White “failed to generate a material factual dispute about whether Janey made any of the statements with actual malice,” according to the ruling, which was first reported by the Boston Globe.

Matters of opinion expressed by Janey publicly that were at issue in the suit are not actionable, Sorokin wrote. He added that Janey “neither misrepresented White’s admissions nor concealed objective facts from the public,” and that “none of the statements at issue were materially false — let alone deliberately so.”

On the contrary, Sorokin wrote, Janey’s public statements “concerning the allegations of domestic abuse tracked conduct to which White had admitted, on more than one occasion.”

The ruling rejected White’s claims that Janey had “deliberately concealed” that he had told the commissioned investigator that he acted in self-defense in all relevant alleged abuse interactions, pointing to how those self-defense claims were included in the report released by Janey to the public.

“He may feel his efforts to challenge the investigation and prevent his termination were appropriate; Janey, however, formed a different opinion, viewing his response as sending the wrong message and demonstrating poor judgment,” Sorokin wrote. “A municipal executive like Janey may publicly express her opinions on matters such as these — even when the object of the opinions disagrees and is hurt by them.”

Sorokin’s ruling dismissed allegations of defamation, due-process violation, and right to privacy, the final three counts that had remained in White’s lengthy lawsuit against the city. The judge had tossed 11 other counts two years ago.

The judge found that the release of the report was not a violation of White’s privacy, given how the investigation and his status as commissioner were “matters of public concern” and the “relevant events began with a media inquiry.”

His ruling also rejected a due-process violation, finding that White was given the opportunity to defend himself and respond to abuse allegations during a press conference and other communications his attorney made with the media.

White’s attorney, Nick Carter of Todd & Weld, said in a statement, “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and will be considering Commissioner White’s appellate options in the coming days.”

“Commissioner White – only the second Black commissioner in the history of the Boston Police Department — spent his career working to improve the community, and he did,” Carter said. “He was an advocate for police transparency and reform as part of Boston’s Police Reform Task Force.

“He had no findings of misconduct against him in his long career, and he continues to vigorously challenge the false allegations of his ex-wife which she made during their divorce 25 years ago,” he added. “Those statements are contradicted by multiple witnesses who testified under oath. It is disappointing that after a 37-year career as a first responder in Boston, it can end like this, without a meaningful opportunity to clear his name.”

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White was promoted to the position of Boston police commissioner in February 2021 by then-Mayor Marty Walsh, and placed on leave just two days later, after 1990s-era domestic abuse claims involving White’s then-wife, also a Boston police officer, and 19-year-old niece by marriage surfaced in the media.

The vetting process behind the promotion drew media scrutiny, Sorokin wrote in the ruling, which notes that Walsh, who would soon leave for a cabinet position in the Biden Administration, made the appointment one business day after White’s friend, then-police commissioner William Gross, announced his retirement.

After Janey took over as acting mayor in the spring of 2021, she tried to fire White, which prompted him to file a lawsuit against the city in state court. When Janey was eventually allowed to move forward with the termination in June, White filed a federal suit with additional counts.

Janey ran for mayor, but lost in the primary to Michelle Wu.

Brian Kelly, a partner with Nixon Kelly, the lawyer who represented the city, said in a statement, “We are pleased the matter is now resolved and look forward to putting this case behind us.”

Former Mayor Marty Walsh (Herald file)