APD Officer sues city and supervisor for sex discrimination ***updated Fri. 11 a.m.***

This story contains detailed allegations that use sexually explicit language.

Alleging that city officials ignored and retaliated against her complaints of repeated sexual discrimination, Asheville Police Department Officer Cherie Byrd is suing the city and her supervisor in federal court. The city is staying silent on the lawsuit, for now.

“At this time all I am able to tell you is the response will be forthcoming within the 60 days allowed [by law],” city spokesperson Dawa Hitch writes Xpress.

Byrd alleges, among other claims, that her superiors in the Police Department repeatedly refused to take action when she reported that her supervisor in the Drug Suppression Unit, Sgt. Eric Lauffer sent her sexually explicit text messages and phone calls beginning in summer 2008 into 2009.

“Over this time, the texts in particular become more sexually explicit,” the suit alleges. “One text featured a cartoon character humping the floor with the caption ‘I’d hit it like this.’ Lauffer added the following text to the message: ‘You have just been phone fucked! P.S. you can not fuck me back no matter how bad you may wanna.’ Other texts contained messages such as ‘I must licky you’ and ‘I am just a man. Never satisfied always wanting more.’ He also texted her a picture of the back side of a naked man and implied in another message she was a ho,” the suit reads.

Lauffer’s texts, according to the suit, weren’t limited to the sexually offensive, but also included remarks “derogative of the African-American race and highly offensive to Ms. Byrd. For example, in November, 2008, he said that ‘the election is making me sick’ because he had the ‘Obama flu’ and that ‘due to recent events: grape soda, red kool-aid, fried chicken, malt liquor, menthol cigarettes and gold teeth will be tax exempt.’”

Lauffer was one of the APD’s officers of the year in 2008.

The suit alleges that when Byrd brought Lauffer’s behavior to the attention of her superiors, including Police Chief Bill Hogan, she received no response. In March 2009, she provided copies of the texts to the department’s Internal Affairs division and was told by Hogan months later “that corrective action was taken. Chief Hogan did not explain what corrective action had been taken. He told Ms. Byrd he could provide no further details of the investigation.”

Eventually, Byrd maintains in the suit, she was told that she would have to remain under Lauffer’s supervision to stay in the Drug Suppression Unit. When she continued with her complaints, she alleges her newer patrol car was reassigned to a junior male officer. In November of last year, she says she met with Assistant City Manager Jeff Richardson, then-HR Director Lisa Roth and City Attorney Bob Oast and they told her that the matter would be investigated. Byrd was placed on administrative leave at this time.

“Ms. Byrd has never received notice that the investigation has been completed or the result of such an investigation,” the suit reads. “The City and the APD did not follow their own policy regarding the procedure for responding to complaints of sexual harassment.”

Even before Lauffer’s behavior, the suit alleges, the APD treated Byrd and other female officers in a discriminatory fashion when, in 2007 and 2008 they were shot at in the line of duty, senior officers doubted their stories and neglected to provide any mental health support, not the department’s usual practice. According to the suit, she now has post-traumatic stress disorder due to the shootings, and cannot continue her job.

In December 2009, Byrd took her complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which informed her she had the right to sue under federal law. She’s seeking compensation for “severe emotional pain and suffering,” lost time due to sexual harassment and compensation for “her inability to continue employment with the APD.”

— David Forbes, staff writer

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6 thoughts on “APD Officer sues city and supervisor for sex discrimination ***updated Fri. 11 a.m.***

  1. JWTJr

    Its almost a dumb crook news story or a career Darwin award winner. A police officer sending all of that electronic info that would later hang him.

  2. Council should replace Hogan anyway on a routine basis, simply because he was originally hired by a previous, and very different council, and he should be assumed to be quietly implementing the policies of the previous council who hired him. This makes a handy, additional reason. Several councillors don’t even want any drug task force to exist.

  3. cameron

    I have not had good experiences with the APD. When my house was broken into i overheard one officer telling another “these people are nasty” because our sink was full of dirty dishes due to our landlord not fixing plumbing issues. i told them who did it and where his brother lived, but they called me back saying they were unable to find anyone by those names. yet they put so many efforts into this drug task force? i have been curious why they are actually catching “criminals” with drugs, but not violent break-ins of asheville citizens? then i read where one recent bust gave the APD 400,000 for marijuana found. marijuana that probably would not have caused a single violent crime. our entire police department needs a reworking and refocusing from top to bottom. i wish that that cecil bothwell memo would be put into action. we are wasting resources and attacking the wrong people. but that is just my opinion.

  4. bikeman

    Not to sound like the judge and jury, seems as if Lauffer needs to go. He may cost us more than the recent embezzlement that took place at City Hall.

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