Woman claims harassment at Carlsbad PD

A former Carlsbad police officer claims she was sexually harassed by a police lieutenant and fired last year for reporting it.

The former officer — referred to in court papers only as “Jane Doe” — sued the city, police department and a former police Lt. Bruce May on Aug. 5.

“Plaintiff was subjected to various sexually explicit, demeaning and disparaging remarks by her coworkers and supervisors, including Defendant May,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants have created a hostile work environment not only to Plaintiff, but to other similarly-situated female employees.”

The unnamed 24-year-old Murrieta resident seeks an unspecified amount of money in damages for “cruel and unjust hardship.”

May retired from the force in December and runs an Oceanside-based real estate investment company. He did not respond to telephone, email and social media requests for comment on Friday. City officials declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, the female officer joined the department in April 2011, completed the police academy and was sworn in on Jan. 25, 2012.

At 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 5, 2012, the lawsuit says Doe was instructed on her patrol car computer to call May at his home, and, “At approximately 3:45 a.m., Plaintiff called Defendant MAY and he told Plaintiff that he was ‘lying in bed’ and stated he ‘was thinking of [Plaintiff],’" the lawsuit states.

Fellow officers told her May “had a history of inappropriate sexual behavior and to be cautious around him,” and witnessed him following her around the city in his patrol car, the lawsuit says.

May’s conduct was discussed in a senior management meeting “but no corrective action was taken,” the lawsuit says. Instead, the lawsuit says, Internal Affairs began investigating Doe in March 2013. She was placed on administrative leave that April and fired in mid-September.

Carlsbad’s all-department Respectful Workplace and Non-Discrimination Policy prohibits discrimination and harassment in any form, and prevents retaliation like that alleged in the lawsuit.

Supervisors and managers are specifically called upon to “model behavior that respects all individuals in the workplace and complies with the principles and spirit of this policy.”

The 162-person police department is overseen by Police Chief Gary W. Morrison, who joined the city’s ranks in 2010.

Del Mar Attorney Alvin Gomez is representing the plaintiff. Gomez declined to comment on the case Friday.