Sunday, February 21, 2010

Roseville Officers File Lawsuit Alleging Harassment of Gay Cops

"There's kinda of culture within the department..."

A culture that Investigative Sgt. Darin DeFreece, former detective Michael Lackl and Officer Ken Marler, allege fostered a hostile work environment targeting gay officers and those perceived to be gay.

"Nobody cared enough to listen," DeFreece said.

The lawsuit says Chief Mike Blair didn't stop the alleged behavior, and even retaliated against those reporting the harassment.

It names Blair, Sgt. Kelby Newton and former City Manager Craig Robinson for not turning the department around after claims first surfaced in 2007. The city disagrees.

"The city of Roseville is absolutely committed to treating every employee in our organization of every level with dignity and respect. And when we have allegations, when we have complaints that arise, we have procedures and policies in place. We very pro-actively and aggressively address those," said Megan MacPherson, spokeswoman for the City of Roseville.

A 16-year veteran, 10 of them with Roseville, DeFreece says derogatory comments have always been commonplace anywhere from the briefing to the locker rooms.

"There's a sense of permissiveness, that people are allowed to make offensive comments, make it a little bit uncomfortable for people to have an alternative lifestyle," DeFreece said.

According to the lawsuit, one captain explained that a security gate code and voicemail access with the numbers 13-69, symbolized 13 as being unlucky and 69 for it's sexual connotation. Two of the plaintiffs are married to women. DeFreece said there are several officers who stand behind them on the suit, and that most of the staff don't participate in the harassment.

"99.9 percent of the people that work at the Roseville Police Department are extremely professional," DeFreece said.

"It's a sad day," he said.

"Any regrets?" Fox 40 asked.

"That it never occurred in the first place. Those are my biggest regrets," DeFreece added. "I look forward to the day when we're beyond this, we've healed as a department."

No comments: