The scandal-engulfed Louisville Metro Police Division was hit with two sexual harassment complaints previously month, with allegations of nude selfies, swinging officers and wild pool events flying across the company.
The continuing turmoil – compounded by the controversial bust of golf star Scottie Scheffler earlier this month – led to the resignation of police chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel this week.
She is the third full-time Louisville prime cop to resign or be terminated since 2020, when officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor throughout a botched drug raid, setting off a nationwide media firestorm.
In a swimsuit filed final week, Sgt. Lauren Carby alleges that her male superior tried to kiss her at a pool occasion at his residence, and that his spouse – additionally a Louisville officer and her direct supervisor – inspired the tryst.
Carby asserts within the court docket papers that Lt. Jeff Lauder and his partner, Maj. Shannon Lauder, hosted the “adults solely” bash for members of the division’s Particular Victims Unit at their residence in 2020.
The hosts, Carby alleges, quickly turned intoxicated and Shannon Lauder started kissing a detective in full view of the opposite company earlier than disappearing with him into one other a part of the residence.
Jeff Lauder approached Carby – a married mom – provided some remarks about her physique after which immediately propositioned her for intercourse, the papers state.
His spouse, Lauder pressured, had endorsed the thought as they had been in an open relationship. “Lauren was shocked, disturbed and very uncomfortable,” the swimsuit says.
Carby declined the provide and left the occasion, the swimsuit states. Fearing retribution, she determined to not file a proper grievance on the time.
With rumors concerning the occasion swirling within the division, a probe was opened in 2022 however ultimately fizzled. Carby is now suing the company for damages.
One other feminine officer, Christine Silk, filed a swimsuit accusing two male colleagues of repeatedly harassing her – with one sending her an image of his penis.
One of many accused, officer Justin LeMon, requested if she could be inquisitive about him romantically if he wasn’t married – and that his spouse chafed at his fixed use of OnlyFans.
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LeMon, she stated, additionally pressured her to learn out sexual fantasies about her he had written out on his telephone, court docket papers state.
Officer Dale Cottongim, who was her coaching teacher, crudely questioned her about her son and made different offensive remarks in entrance of different officers, the papers allege.
“In entrance of her Academy classmates Cottongim requested Christine if she “had a one-night stand to have your son? Is that why the child doesn’t have a father?’” the lawsuit expenses.
He acquired a slap on the wrist within the type of a letter of reprimand and was involuntarily transferred, the papers say.
The division, she argued, failed to guard the military veteran from abuse within the office.
“Christine is just not the one sufferer of harassment and discrimination to undergo by the actions and failures of LMPD,” the swimsuit states. “LMPD stays a disturbing inside tradition the place pervasive patterns of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviors of officers have been repeatedly excused, ignored, hid, and fostered.”
Shannon Lauder herself has additionally lodged allegations of sexual harassment by Maj. Brian Kuriger however has but to file swimsuit, the Courier-Journal reported.
A secret recording of a Could 22 assembly emerged of Lauder telling Gwinn-Villaroel that Kuriger “has sexually harassed me and attacked me. I can’t work with him.”
After a quick pause, Gwinn-Villaroel introduced Kuriger’s promotion, in accordance with the native information outlet.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg suspended the police chief for mishandling Lauder’s grievance, calling the sexual harassment allegations “unacceptable and inexcusable.” Gwinn-Villaroel stepped down Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Division informed Fox Information Digital in a press release that the company does not tolerate sexual misconduct. “We take each allegation of this nature significantly and instantly launch inside investigations as soon as they’re delivered to our consideration,” the assertion reads.
The spokesperson added that one of many officers named within the lawsuits was reassigned to a different unit and the opposite was positioned on administrative depart pending the result of an investigation.
The beleaguered company got here underneath fireplace final month after {golfing} celebrity Scottie Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, prison mischief, reckless driving and disregarding alerts from an officer directing site visitors.
The costs had been later dropped after native prosecutors known as the bungled case a “large misunderstanding” over his entry to the Valhalla Golf Membership throughout the PGA Championship.