Aberdeen sued for gender discrimination by city’s sole female officer

Feb. 26--The City of Aberdeen is being sued for additional wages and damages in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of its lone female police officer.

The lawsuit charges that Kristi Lougheed was hired and paid at a lower rate than her male counterparts in violation of state law.

Depositions are currently being taken in the lawsuit, which was filed in Grays Harbor County Superior CourtOct. 17. An amended complaint, dropping an additional federal cause, was filed Oct. 24. The City of Aberdeen's response filed on Oct. 28 denies all of the material allegations in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit cites the state's Equal Pay Act as well as state law against discrimination.

The plaintiff, Lougheed, is represented by Victoria L. Vreeland of Vreeland Law in Bellevue and Erik M. Kupka of Ingram, Zelasko & Goodwin in Aberdeen. The defendant, the city of Aberdeen, is represented by Jeffrey A.O. Freimund, of Freimund Jackson & Tardif in Olympia.

The city is alleged to have "failed to pay and continues to fail to pay plaintiff equal pay, based on her qualifications for similar, comparable or equal work due to her gender," the suit states.

Lougheed is the only female officer among 34 police officers, including 25 patrol officers.

The suit says Lougheed was a veteran officer who had worked 14 years as a deputy for the county Sheriff's Department and for a year as a police officer for the Cosmopolis Police Department at the time she was hired by Aberdeen on June 26, 2010.

The lawsuit alleges that Lougheed was told by Linda Hein, then the city's Human Resources Director, that her salary would be at "Step 1" or the lowest level of the salary range, according to the lawsuit. Lougheed protested. Hein spoke to Aberdeen Police Chief Robert Torgerson who, according to the suit, said he would allow her to go to "Step 2," which he claimed was the highest any lateral officer ever started at the city, the suit says. Torgerson also said "her starting salary had been determined by the salary she was paid by her previous employers and that he offers lateral hires a small amount above the salary at their last job," the lawsuit asserts.

Torgerson's response was contrary to city and police department policies, the suit claims.

In the spring of 2012, Lougheed "first learned that her starting salary may have been significantly lower than male lateral hires at the city police department," the lawsuit says.

She repeatedly made requests on her own and through the Aberdeen Police Officer's Guild for public records regarding the salaries, the suit states. Information provided by the city, "revealed she had in fact been started at a significantly lower salary than male lateral hires with less experience," the lawsuit says.

Vreeland expanded on the evidence of discriminatory treatment of Lougheed in an email Monday:

"The written city personnel policies in place for years and at the time Officer Lougheed was hired required that the starting salary for all city jobs, if above Step 1, must be based on experience, qualifications and skill. The Police Chief completely failed to follow these written policies.

"(Torgerson) unilaterally set the starting salary of Officer Lougheed, who had 15 years of law enforcement experience ... at Step 2. However, he set the starting salary for a male with eight years at Step 4, a male with seven and three quarter years at Step 3, a male with 12 years at Step 3, and a male with 17 years at Step 4.

"The only other officers who started at a Step 2, like Officer Lougheed, had only five and six years' experience, compared to her 15 years. The city human resources department and the Mayor's office also failed to enforce the procedures mandated by the personnel policies, which had been passed by the city council to assure equal pay," Vreeland responded.

The lawsuit doesn't ask for a specific damage amount. It asks that she recover "all damages sustained, including but not limited to past and future, actual and compensatory, economic and non-economic, and special and general damages."

Freimund was hired to act on behalf of the city through the Washington Cities Insurance Authority. He asserts that the statute of limitations has run out on the claim. The statute of limitations is set three years from date of hire, he said.

Asked why he hasn't filed for an outright dismissal if the statute of limitations has run out, he said he has to conduct more discovery. "After reviewing that material, it could well be the case that I would make that motion," he said.

No court date has been set and neither party would say whether settlement discussions had been conducted.

Erin Hart, 360-537-3932, [email protected]. Twitter: @DW_Erin

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