Female cop files discrimination suit against Henderson

A female Henderson police officer is claiming sexual discrimination against the city in a federal lawsuit filed last month, court records show.

Tiffany Dunsworth-Hampton filed the lawsuit on Nov. 18. In it, she claimed she was the subject of several sexually explicit comments, that she was referred to as a "bitch with a badge," among other discriminatory names by her fellow officers, and was put in harm's way by their actions toward her.

Henderson police hired Dunsworth-Hampton in September 2012. At the time, she was in a romantic relationship with a Henderson police lieutenant who she would eventually marry, according to the lawsuit.

During her first two years on the force, Dunsworth-Hampton said she was approached by several officers who gave advice or offered to help her with writing reports during down time or off days. Several of those officers, she claimed, would later text her asking her out for drinks, which she declined. According to the lawsuit, after she declined the advancements, officers began talking about Dunsworth-Hampton being "too small for the job."

Male officers in her patrol unit told their supervisor that they did not want to work with a female officer, and one officer referred to Dunsworth-Hampton as a stripper with a cop outfit, according to the lawsuit.

Dunsworth-Hampton also claimed that nearly every member of her patrol unit stopped responding to her calls for backup.

When dispatch would direct the officers to assist Dunsworth-Hampton on calls for service, the male officers wouldn't talk to her or ask if she needed assistance, the lawsuit alleges. Instead, they told dispatch the call was clear and then drive away, it claims.

The one male officer who Dunsworth-Hampton said properly responded to her calls for backup eventually went to their sergeant to complain about how she was being treated.

Instead of heeding the complaint, the lawsuit claims the sergeant instructed the officer to monitor Dunsworth-Hampton for any mistakes she made so he could remove her from the unit.

When Dunsworth-Hampton requested to meet with her lieutenant to discuss the harassment and discrimination, she was told "that is what you get for dating at work," according to the lawsuit.

A city police spokeswoman declined to comment Monday, saying the lawsuit was a "personnel matter."

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead