Laura Alkins was employed as a peace officer in the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office for nearly two decades. In 2018, she was notified that she would be reassigned back to the County jail, where she had worked several years earlier. In a meeting with her supervisor, Major Raymond Pelis, Alkins stated that during her prior…
Melinda Abbt was a firefighter with the Houston Fire Department. From 2006 until 2009, she was assigned to Station 18, where her supervisor was Captain Chris Barrientes. Station 18 was overseen by District Chief David Elliott, who also had purview over three or four other stations. In 2008, Barrientes received an anonymous email containing an…
Kathryn Downey has been employed as a trooper by the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) for 16 years, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. Earl Johnson has worked for MSP for roughly the same amount of time and has been assigned as a Fitness Coordinator and Defensive Tactics Coordinator at MSP’s Police Academy for many years. In…
Jimmie Turner was a lieutenant with the New Orleans Police Department. In an October 17, 2018 disciplinary letter, the Department suspended and then demoted Turner to a police sergeant classification after finding that he violated Policy 328 entitled “Workplace Discriminatory Harassment/Retaliation.” The discipline arose from a complaint lodged by Sergeant Peter Hansche. At the time…
A tort can be loosely defined as “a non-contractual civil wrong.” Some torts, including negligence and some forms of product liability, do not require any particular intent on the part of a wrongdoer. Others, most of which are collected under the heading of intentional torts, require that the wrongdoer act with impermissible intent. Battery and…
Parties to contracts such as labor agreements can choose to substitute arbitration for a court resolution of contractual disputes. With two notable exceptions, final and binding arbitration of grievances is just that: final and binding. As the Supreme Court held in United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593 (1960),…
Janie Myles was a 23-year veteran of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office when Victor Mason became sheriff. Myles later filed a lawsuit claiming that Mason subjected her to sexual harassment, discriminated against her based on race and sex, and ultimately fired her in retaliation for testifying against him in another woman’s sexual harassment suit. According…
Lavanden Darks is one of four black deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in Missouri. Jackson County employs approximately 100 sworn officers. In 2014, Jackson County required all sworn officers appearing in uniform to be clean shaven with the exception of moustaches. Darks experienced pain with shaving and was medically diagnosed with an inflammatory…
Jo Anne Pepitone is a police sergeant in the Lower Merion, Pennsylvania Police Department. Pepitone sued the Department, alleging that “there have been numerous sexually charged rumors circulating throughout the police department that have contributed to creating a sexually hostile and gender discriminatory hostile work environment,” including rumors that Pepitone had “sexual relationships with her…
Kevin Perry worked as a corrections officer for the Westchester County Department of Corrections in New York. Perry was assigned to the DOC’s booking unit, and Captain Robert Slensby was one of his supervisors. In July 2014, Perry completed a medical leave and returned to work at the DOC. Perry testified that on July 22,…
Court opinions cutting back on sexual harassment lawsuits have become so commonplace that it is a comparative rarity to see a sexual harassment claim allowed to proceed through the litigation process. A recent federal court of appeals decision, however, seemed to draw a bit of a line in the sand – unwanted hugging can possibly…
Victoria Zetwick is a correctional officer with Yolo County, California. Zetwick sued the County, alleging that Sheriff Edward Prieto created a sexually hostile work environment by, among other things, greeting her with unwelcome hugs and/or kisses on more than one hundred occasions over a twelve-year period. A trial court granted the County’s motion to dismiss…
The opinion of the Montana Supreme Court in a case involving Colstrip Police Chief Larry Reinlasoder starts off with a bang: “‘You ain’t getting s––– for Christmas! I’ve just examined your computer and it’s full of porn, you f pervert,’ read a captioned picture of Santa Claus attached to a December 2007 office email from…
Haydee Martinez, who is a lesbian, was hired in November 2001 by Northwestern University in Illinois. In 2003, Martinez began reporting to Sergeant Timothy Reuss, a heterosexual male, who was aware of her sexual orientation from at least the time he became her supervisor. Martinez alleged that from March 2003 to March 2011, Reuss often…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires anyone filing a hostile work environment harassment claim to lodge the claim within “300 days of any act that is part of the hostile work environment.” Michelle Maliniak is a fire engineer with the Tucson Fire Department. At Maliniak’s assigned station, male firefighters repeatedly used the women’s…
Theresa Brooks was assigned to the Narcotics Strike Force of the Philadelphia Police Department. According to Brooks, the environment within the operations room at the Strike Force was overly hostile towards female employees. Brooks testified that her male colleagues would watch pornographic films on the television set in the operations room at the Strike Force…
From the opening words of a federal court’s opinion in Firefighter Melissa Smith’s sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the City of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, one realizes that the Court’s opinion is going to be unlike most “just the facts, ma’am” judicial decisions. Judge Gregory Presnell began his opinion writing: “Discrimination in the workplace…
Over the last decade, the United States Supreme Court has significantly tightened up on the standards for what constitutes sexual harassment. It is no overstatement to say that what might have been considered a very viable sexual harassment claim ten years ago might now be flatly rejected by the courts. It was inevitable that the…
Nora Chaib was a correctional officer with the State of Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison. After she was hired, Chaib participated in six weeks of classroom instruction at the New Castle Correctional Facility followed by training with a field training officer, during a six-month probationary period. Chaib received on-site training at Pendleton…
In two 1998 cases, the United States Supreme Court adopted new rules of employer liability in sexual harassment cases. The cases, Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), and Faragher v. Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), created what became known as the “Faragher-Ellerth defense,” and have shielded employers from liability in many…
In November 2000, several firefighters working for the South County Fire Protection Authority in San Mateo County, California were idling in the dayroom of the firehouse. Captain Ronald Doss walked up behind Firefighter Gregory Nave, who was sitting in a recliner. Another firefighter said to Doss, “Why don’t you put your dick on his head?”…
Shannon Moran is a female firefighter with the City of Detroit, Michigan. One night, Moran was assigned to “cot duty,” where she slept on a cot near a computer to monitor and alert the other firefighters of any calls for service. Moran was woken up by her direct supervisor, Sergeant Terry Tatum, when he inappropriately…
Owing to several decisions by the United States Supreme Court, the law on sexual harassment has constricted greatly in the last few years. The new difficult standard was illustrated in a recent case involving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. During the process of her application to be a deputy sheriff, Catherine Logerot was interviewed…
John Rose was a jailer with the Upshur County, Texas Sheriff’s Department. Rose learned that two Sheriff’s Department employees had made inappropriate sexual comments and/or suggestive communications with his wife. Rose complained to the chief deputy about the employees’ comments and communications. On February 2, 2010, Rose’s wife, Crystal Rose, e-mailed Upshur County Sheriff’s Department…
Shirley Johnson is an officer with the City of Belzoni, Mississippi Police Department. Johnson sued the City, Police Chief Mickey Foxworth, and Belzoni Police Officer David James, claiming she was sexually harassed at work by James for approximately a year. Johnson reported the harassment to her supervisor, Foxworth, but claimed insufficient action was taken to…
