Summary: Salt Lake City’s Mayor has responded to a pending sexual harassment lawsuit.
Despite initial reservations, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has reversed his declaration of no-comment and has issued a statement in response to the soon to be filed sexual harassment suit three veteran police officers have levied against the city.
“I take any claim of harassment and discrimination very seriously. As this situation unfolded, my administration addressed the issue with the police department and will continue to do so in close coordination with the Human Resources Department and the city attorney’s office to prevent this kind of behavior in the future. It’s simply unacceptable,” he said.
“The 3,000 employees of Salt Lake City work hard every day to serve our residents and visitors, and we have citywide processes in place to ensure that they may work in an environment that is safe and free from hostility.
“It took courage for the three female officers to bring this claim forward. I recognize it is particularly difficult to do so in a professional and potentially public setting. My administration will not tolerate any instance of retaliation associated with these or any other claims,” the mayor said.
Included in the claims the women are likely to make are that he stole photos of Gray and Heiden wearing bikinis from her phone and showed them to co-workers over a 2-year period. For this Findlay was placed on administrative leave as of Nov. 8 2013, and has since resigned from the department, having reached the 20-year mark that establishes higher retirement benefits.
Robin Heiden, Melody Grey, and Tiffany Commagere are represented by Ed Brass and plan to bring a civil rights lawsuit against Salt Lake City, the police department, and Deputy Chief Rick Findlay in particular. The suit is intended to be placed after a few roadblocks are passed.
News Source: Deseret News