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Former police officer: Discipline was biased
By LEANORA MINAI © St. Petersburg Times, published January 4, 2001 TAMPA -- A former St. Petersburg police officer testified Wednesday that discipline at the Police Department is tougher on women than men. In day two of her federal case against the city, Karen Lea said she was more harshly disciplined for comments she made about an employee's sexual orientation than a male officer whose actions were far more objectionable. Lea was suspended and demoted for making disparaging remarks about the sexuality of a male employee, and saying he looked as though he was dying of AIDS, according to Tom Gonzalez, the city's labor attorney. But Lea testified Wednesday that Officer James McConaughey was let off the hook even though he abused alcohol, dropped his shorts and cursed at other officers, and made sexually suggestive remarks to her. Lea, who is seeking $300,000, said McConaughey also made sexual comments to her while he was intoxicated and that he is a glaring example of disparity in departmental discipline. "He asked me if I put out for my subordinates," Lea testified. Lea supervised McConaughey. At times Wednesday, the case sounded more like a sexual harassment trial than a labor lawsuit, with the onetime friends leveling accusations at one another. Neither Lea nor McConaughey, who testified Wednesday that he never propositioned Lea, works at the department anymore. Lea, a 24-year police employee, said she became a victim of retaliation after reporting McConaughey's sexual remarks. She says she was told that police Chief Goliath Davis III did not believe her. Lea contends that McConaughey got preferential treatment when it came to discipline. Attorneys for the city said Lea has changed her story since losing an arbitration hearing. Lea originally told her supervisor about McConaughey's sexual remarks to get him help for a drinking problem, attorney Gonzalez told the jury of five men and two women. In fact, Gonzalez pointed to a memo Lea wrote to the supervisor, describing as jovial McConaughey's comment, "Are you naked?" Lea's case is one of 11 separate legal actions involving the Police Department since Davis was appointed chief in 1997. Most of Wednesday's testimony involved reviewing McConaughey's misconduct and comparing the discipline, or lack of it, to Lea's suspension and demotion for making derogatory remarks. A labor arbitrator upheld Lea's suspension and demotion for the comments. Lea testified that McConaughey's sexually suggestive remarks began after she started monitoring his behavior because of a suspected drinking problem. McConaughey, who called about work matters, acknowledged in his testimony that during those conversations he sometimes asked Lea if she was naked. But he said he was joking, and that he apologized after she reported him. "No need to apologize," McConaughey testified Lea said to him. "It was nothing about nothing. It was a joke." Lea testified that she was offended after everything started to sink in, especially after McConaughey was transferred to a male supervisor when she complained. "I think the message given to the man was it's okay to behave in this manner," Lea said. "That was no punishment." In addition to the sexual remarks he made when calling her at home, Lea said there was other misconduct for which McConaughey was barely reprimanded. Amid a divorce in 1996, McConaughey drove to a Pinellas Park horse stable and got into an argument with the trainer over who owned the show horse -- McConaughey or his estranged wife, who was dating a Pinellas Park police officer. McConaughey was off-duty but had been drinking, and Pinellas Park officers were called. McConaughey said he became angry and frustrated when they repeatedly asked if he was armed. "I showed them my rear end," McConaughey said. McConaughey's discipline was a written warning in his file. In 1998, McConaughey was off duty when he visited a St. Petersburg massage studio. He had been drinking. The massage therapist refused to treat him. St. Petersburg police were called. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.34, four times higher than the point at which the law presumes impairment. Supervisors held his dismissal "in abeyance pending a last-chance agreement." To keep his job, McConaughey had to refrain from alcohol and submit to random alcohol tests. After 26 years on the job, he retired in June. Testimony in the case continues at 9 a.m. today. Recent coverageChief conflicts (December 3, 2000) Judge removes police chief from lawsuit (May 3, 2000) Ex-officer's lawsuit alleges retaliation by the brass (March 11, 2000) Attorney to give statement on chief (September 10, 1999) One more chapter in the saga of the police chief (August 31, 1999) Davis brings change, spawns controversy (May 30, 1999) Defender of chief is also his inquisitor (May 15, 1999) Investigators: Testimony led to punishment (May 8, 1999) Ex-officer's lawsuit claims retaliation (February 23, 1999) Who truly gets dignity, respect at police station? (February 9, 1999) St. Petersburg chief walks tightrope (June 14, 1998)
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