Courts » Officer’s suit includes allegations of retaliation and a hostile work environment.

By Pamela Manson

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Taylorsville • A police officer who sued the city in late 2010, alleging she was harassed by her fellow officers and subjected to a hostile work environment due to her gender, is claiming she was the target of more harassment after filing her lawsuit.

Jolayne "Jodie" Sampson has amended the pending suit to include more alleged harassment — including the filing of a complaint last month against her by several Taylorsville Police Department detectives who claim she subjected them to a hostile work environment by, among other actions, filing her lawsuit.

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Sampson, who has been an officer with the department since 2005, also claims she was subjected to more "derogatory, harassing and gender-based name-calling" and harsher discipline for alleged infractions because of her suit.

The suit — filed Dec. 13, 2010, in U.S. District Court and amended Jan. 26 — adds Police Chief Del Craig as a defendant. Taylorsville also is a defendant; the police department, originally named as a defendant, was dropped from the suit about a year ago.

The Taylorsville City Council voted unanimously on Feb. 8 to fund Craig’s legal defense. The council voted a year ago to fund the defense of 14 officers and administrators, although they were not specifically named as defendants.

Taylorsville spokeswoman Aimee Newton said the city, as a matter of policy, can’t comment on pending litigation.

But in a court document responding to the suit, the city denies that the police department created and fostered a hostile work environment, retaliated against Sampson, failed to investigate her complaints or applied any extra scrutiny to her work. The response says Sampson has "experienced performance problems" in filling out reports and has acknowledged to city personnel that she is "the queen of late reports."

The suit says the harassment began in April 2007, when Sampson allegedly received an offensive phone message from a male colleague. She complained to her superiors but rather than investigate, they began trying to undermine her credibility, according to the suit.

Sampson said the department began giving her verbal and written warnings and suspended her without pay for conduct that "was no different [than] the conduct of male officers," including leaving a patrol area without permission and filing reports late. One supervisor allegedly called her a "whore" in front of other officers.

After she complained, the retaliation continued, the suit alleges. It says that a number of detectives claimed in a Dec. 21, 2011, letter to Craig that Sampson had made numerous unfounded complaints, "causing frustration among the employees and a hostile work environment."

"The detectives also specifically point to this lawsuit as the reason several of the officers feel subjected to a hostile work environment," the lawsuit says.

In her suit, Sampson says she suffers from "extreme emotional distress and pain," including headaches, vision problems and trouble sleeping. She is seeking back pay for the time she was suspended and an unspecified amount of money for punitive and other damages.