A Firestone police corporal sexually assaulted a subordinate officer and forced him out of his job and profession, the officer alleged in a new federal lawsuit.
Rochelle Orlando joined the Firestone Police Department as a community service officer on February 25, 2019, hoping to pursue her dream of becoming a crime scene investigator, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court against the city of Firestone. was with.
But the person appointed to train him – Cpl. Chris Ross – sexually assaulted her and Orlando feared speaking out about harassment because of a sexist culture where derogatory comments about women were acceptable, the lawsuit says.
“Corporal Ross felt empowered to engage in such conduct because of the culture within the Town of Firestone Police Department, which routinely commented on women’s bodies, subjected women to highly derogatory statements and They were then told that if they could not handle the sexual harassment and discrimination, they would lose their employment,” according to the lawsuit.
Ross began flirting with Orlando in October 2019 and began to focus more on his training, the lawsuit says. Orlando ignored the flirtation because she was excited to learn from Ross that he was the only department employee qualified to investigate the crime scene.
In April 2020, Ross called Orlando to a forensic lab to look at pictures of the crime scene. Looking at the photos, Ross grabs Orlando and kisses him, Sue says.
“Before she could say anything, Corporal Ross said to her, ‘I’m glad you didn’t reject me because if you did, I wouldn’t be able to train you any more and you would have to leave the Firestone Police Department. The lawsuit states.
The sexual assault escalated and came to the attention of officers when police were called to an Orlando home after her husband sued Ross about sexual activity, according to the lawsuit. Ross and Orlando were both placed on administrative leave.
Orlando resigned from his position on June 8, 2020, after being suggested by then-Chief David Montgomery. She resigned in part because she feared becoming “the department’s latest victim of ridicule and sexual harassment comments” and feared Ross would fire her if she did not continue to engage in sexual relations, the lawsuit says.
Ross is no longer with the department, although it is unclear whether he resigned or was fired.
City spokeswoman Katie Hansen said in an email that she could not comment on the lawsuit and that the city had not received legal notice of the lawsuit.
Town officials sent Montgomery on leave after Orlando filed a complaint about Ross’s harassment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Montgomery retired in July amid investigations into his leadership.
The lawsuit states that Orlando’s sexual harassment is part of a larger sexist culture. Orlando is at least the second female official to sue the city for sexual assault.
Orlando once heard a lieutenant make an explicit sexual remark about another city employee, and Montgomery made a suggestive remark about a woman’s body. Female officers in the department were called “Chief’s Girls” and the chief regularly called Orlando “little,” the lawsuit says.
Montgomery framed the sexist and derogatory comments as “locker room talk” and said that Orlando probably shouldn’t have a job if she can’t “handle” it, the lawsuit says. The men served in all leadership and patrol positions in the department.
Orlando applied for another community service officer position in Weld County but was turned down. She decided that she would not be able to work as a crime scene investigator in Colorado because of Ross’s tight-lipped crime scene investigator community.
Frederick’s officers hired an outside investigator to investigate the sexual assault, but Orlando has not received the results of that investigation, the lawsuit says.
Orlando’s attorney did not respond to an email Monday requesting further comment.
