Louisville Metro Police Sgt. David Burns and an officer filed a lawsuit today against the police department and a commander, claiming the commander sexually harassed the officer and then retaliated against Burns when he reported it.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, alleges that Maj. Jimmy Harper repeatedly sent inappropriate text messes to Officer Debbie Minniear, his ex-wife, requesting the two have sex and that she send him naked pictures of herself.
Minniear, who is remarried, told her supervisor about the text messages but feared retribution from the department and Harper, who had been commander of the division she worked in, so she requested no action be taken, according to the suit.
But Burns, who worked in the 6th Division with Minniear and Harper, asked Harper to stop sending inappropriate messages to Minniear, according to the suit. Harper responded by punishing Burns for alleged performance deficiencies, the suit alleges.
Earlier this week, the police department exonerated Harper of charges of sexual harassment and retaliation in an investigation by the department's professional-standards unit.
Harper received a letter yesterday from Chief Robert White advising him that he had been cleared in the internal investigation.
White directed the standards unit to investigate the charges against Harper on May 30.A police spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit today. Claims made in filing a lawsuit give only one side of the case.
According to the lawsuit, when Burns complained to the chief's office about the alleged retaliation, he was transferred from the 6th Division. And Minniear, who was off duty as a result of injuries was told to "stay home," according to the suit.
The suit is requesting a jury trial and punitive damages as well as a court injunction prohibiting "any further acts of retaliation" against Burns or Minniear.
While Harper was not disciplined, because both he and Minniear work in the 6th Division, Harper will become commander of the 7th Division, Assistant Chief Troy Riggs said yesterday.
White "thought it was in the best interest of the police department to separate those individuals," Riggs said.
Earlier this year, Metro government agreed to pay officers Kristina Hagan and Michael Smith a total of $150,000 to settle a suit alleging that other officers sexually harassed Hagan and that Smith faced retaliation for supporting her allegations.