Tanisha Ross Paige wanted to be a cop ever since she was 14. She joined the St. Louis Police Department in 2005, became a K-9 officer in 2008, and left the department in 2012 when she became permanently disabled after being attacked by another K-9 officer’s dog during a training exercise.
In June 2011, she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Sgt. Steven Gori, her immediate supervisor. After she filed the complaint, Ross-Paige began to be retaliated against. On December 22, 2011 she filed a lawsuit against the Board of Police Commissioners, which governed the St. Louis Police Department at the time. On January 4, 2012, just 13 days after she filed her lawsuit, she was attacked by another K-9 dog during a training exercise.
In her lawsuit, the married Ross-Paige claimed Sgt. Gori asked her to sit on his lap, take off her bullet-resistant vest so he could “see what she is working with,” and invited her to skinny-dip in his hot tub. And he made up and distributed a mock wanted flier on her which read:
“Subject wanted for having the baddest body in the St. Louis area. Use extreme caution when approaching this subject. Approach this subject from behind for your own safety.”
The lawsuit claims that after she filed her department complaint, Gori and his supervisor, Lt. Michael Deeba, began assigning her to undesirable shifts, downgraded her in performance evaluations, and denied her time off for training that was given to other officers. On two occasions, Deeber allegedly told other officers that Ross-Paige’s complaint was frivolous and he wanted her transferred out of the K-9 unit. She was also forced to attend remedial training. And when her dog was retired, he was given to a groundskeeper instead of to her, which was contrary to the department’s usual policy.
On Friday, a jury awarded Ross-Paige $300,000 in compensatory damages and $7.2 million in punitive damages. It looks as though that wanted poster Gori drew up paid off rather nicely for the former K-9 officer.
I cannot help but feel that the K-9 attack against Ross-Paige just 13 days after she filed her lawsuit looks highly suspicious.
1 comment:
It is a good thing that arrogant stupid bastards in positions of power are, by definition, stupid. Many people are not suited for power, it bring out the worst, and the stupidest, in them.
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