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| Female deputy files discrimination lawsuit |
| By Naples Daily News |
| Published: 12/13/2004 |
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A Collier County (Fla.) sheriff's deputy, alleging she was discriminated against because she's female and had complained about gender-related bias against her, has filed a federal lawsuit against the agency and two deputies. The suit, filed by Sgt. Virginia Wilson on Dec. 3 in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages from Sheriff Don Hunter; Wilson's supervisor, Capt. Chris Freeman; and former deputy, the Rev. Van Ellison. In the suit, Wilson said she was the only female sergeant assigned to DRILL Academy, which houses teenage defendants at a military-style boot camp in Immokalee. Wilson complained about gender-biased treatment by other deputies, especially of her direct supervisor, Lt. Ray Sutton, but on April 15 was notified by Freeman she was the subject of an internal affairs investigation against her. During the investigation, in which she was later cleared, according to the suit, she was reassigned to the job she had before her promotion and was told she couldn't wear her sergeant's badge or stripes. Male deputies under investigation for allegations as serious or more so were not required to give up their badges or rank insignia and were not reassigned, the suit argues. Male officers wearing similarly casual dress at the party weren't investigated. One such officer, Ellison, also wore short sleeves and shorts but complained about Wilson's clothing, according to the suit. Ellison said others had complained about Wilson's clothes, but that was untrue, according to the suit, leading to her exoneration June 9. Despite his complaint about Wilson, Ellison himself couldn't attest to how she was dressed at the picnic, according to the suit. The central allegation of the suit is that the complaint against Wilson and her demotion, even though temporary, were in retaliation for her original complaint about how her supervisors treated her. Sutton is not a defendant in the suit. Freeman is listed as a supervisor of Sutton as well as of Wilson. The suit alleges Hunter violated the federal statute preventing gender discrimination/retaliation as well as Florida's whistleblower law. The suit is filed against Hunter as an agency and against Freeman and Ellison individually. Debra A. Rowe, a Fort Myers attorney representing Wilson, was unavailable for comment last Thursday. |
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