Ceres officers secretly recorded female co-workers, lawsuit says

Several officers are accused of secretly video recording two of the Police Department’s female civilian employees, according to a harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed in Stanislaus Superior Court.

The lawsuit claims one of the recordings was taken by a cellphone placed on the floor and recorded one of the employees as she wore a dress, capturing video of her upper thigh and underpants. In the second incident, the lawsuit claims a video camera was hidden for at least a month in the other employee’s office, where she changed clothes before working out.

The lawsuit claims the two women were subject to other acts of discrimination and harassment, that police officials retaliated against the women when they complained, and that the Police Department did not conduct thorough investigations of their complaints. The lawsuit comes after officials with the Modesto-Stanislaus branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People warned the City Council in September that they were hearing reports of officers secretly filming female co-workers.

The Walnut Creek law firm of Casper, Meadows, Schwartz & Cook filed the lawsuit April 30 on behalf of Carissa Higginbotham and Alexandra Warner. The lawsuit states that Higginbotham is married to a female officer and claims she faced additional discrimination and harassment because of her sexual orientation. The female officer no longer works for Ceres.

“We feel the way in which the department has treated both of the plaintiffs is truly despicable,” attorney Stan Casper said. He said his clients would not be commenting for this story. Ceres City Manager Toby Wells said he could not comment about the allegations because a lawsuit has been filed.

Casper said the allegations point to larger problems with the Police Department. “Something isn’t right in the department,” he said. “Either they are hiring inappropriate people to be officers or are lax in their training and evaluations. This doesn’t happen out of nowhere. (They) think it’s OK, that it’s a joke.”

Wells said he strongly disagrees with that assessment but could not speak further.

This is the latest black eye for Ceres and the department.

In April, the city paid $312,500 to settle a lawsuit that claimed one of its officers broke a handcuffed woman’s arm as he slammed her against a police car in August 2012. The city did not admit wrongdoing in ending the litigation, and insurance paid the settlement.

And in March, an off-duty Ceres police officer shot and killed a man who confronted him with a BB gun in a Modesto park. Authorities have said the officer was at the park with the other man’s wife and believe the man suspected the two of having an affair. The officer was in his first year on the job and still on probation. Ceres ended his employment last month but would not say whether that was related to the shooting. Modesto police continue to investigate the incident.

The lawsuit states Higginbotham worked for the Police Department for more than a decade in executive administrative positions before resigning in November 2014. She also served as the department’s public information officer in her last two years.

The lawsuit claims that while attending an Oct. 29, 2013, shift briefing, Higginbotham noticed a cellphone on the floor. She asked who owned it, and that Officer Coey Henson said it was his. Higginbotham, who was wearing a dress, decided not to pick up the phone before leaving the briefing. The lawsuit claims that later that day, Henson showed her the cellphone video, which included video of her upper thigh and underpants.

Higginbotham was offended and told Henson not to show the video to anyone. But the lawsuit claims Henson had shared the video with other officers and continued to do so. She complained about Henson, and the department conducted an investigation and placed him on leave. The lawsuit states that the department fired Henson in February 2014. Casper said Henson appealed the decision and got his job back. Ceres confirmed he is employed with the city as a police officer.

The lawsuit claims the Police Department did not take the investigation seriously or pursue misdemeanor criminal charges against Henson. It also claims police Chief Brent Smith is a supporter of Henson. The lawsuit claims Smith made it difficult for Higginbotham to do her job, told her Henson should not have lost his job, and directed hate speech at Higginbotham because of her and her spouse’s sexual orientation.

Smith, who has been with the department for more than a decade, was named interim police chief in June of last year and made permanent chief in February. He replaced longtime Public Safety Director Art de Werk.

Warner started to work at the Police Department in January 2012 as a crime analyst and crime scene technician. She remains employed with the department, according to the city. The lawsuit states that Warner worked in the Street Crimes Unit and claims that the men who worked in the unit were hostile to her and made it difficult for her to do her job.

The lawsuit claims that on May 19, 2014, Warner found a surveillance video camera hidden in her office. The camera was angled toward her desk and where she changed clothes before working out in the department’s fitness room. The lawsuit states that Warner locked the office door before changing. “The videotape reflected that, for about one month, if not longer, the hidden video camera continually recorded Warner working in her office,” the lawsuit states.

It also states that even though a department investigation determined the male employees of the Street Crimes Unit placed the camera in the office, they were cleared of sexual discrimination and harassment charges. The lawsuit claims Smith “took care of his ‘guys’ by ensuring that the serious charges of discrimination and harassment against them were not sustained.”

The lawsuit identifies the male employees as Sgt. Johnson and Officers Albonetti, Griebel and Nieuwenhuis. The lawsuit states that the unit has been disbanded. Wells, the city manager, said the officers named in the lawsuit would not comment.

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Ceres officers secretly recorded female co-workers, lawsuit says."