Reno police sergeant claims discrimination in latest lawsuit

Anjeanette Damon | Reno Gazette-Journal

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A Reno police sergeant has sued the city, claiming years of discrimination and degrading treatment at the hands of her fellow officers and supervisors because of her gender and sexual orientation. It's the third time she has sued on similar grounds.

In her latest lawsuit, Sgt. Laura Conklin lays out a litany of claims— many of them already litigated — against the Reno Police Department, a lieutenant and a former deputy chief. Since 2011, the city has paid her $54,000 in settlement money for her previous lawsuits.

Despite those settlements, Conklin argues the city continues to discriminate against her.

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Among the claims in Conklin's most recent lawsuit:

Twenty years ago, a fellow officer asked her to provide him with photos of a female co-worker changing in a locker room. When Conklin refused, she said he subjected her to abusive treatment. She sued him in 2008, ultimately winning a $9,000 settlement from him in 2011.

More than 10 years ago, Conklin said she helped reveal that officers on the Special Enforcement Team used racial epithets and code words to describe black and Latino citizens. She claims former Deputy Chief Dave Evans, who at the time supervised the SET officers, retaliated against her until he was forced to leave the department in 2012. Evans was secretly recorded by another sergeant referring to Conklin in obscene and derogatory terms.

Conklin was demoted to officer from sergeant after she sold a personal handgun to a 19-year-old man with a mental illness while on duty at 4 a.m. Conklin claims her demotion was discriminatory because a fellow sergeant on scene during the transaction wasn't disciplined. She filed a grievance at the time, which was denied all the way to the level of the Nevada Supreme Court. Before that court could issue a decision, she settled with the city for a $45,000 payment and reinstatement to the position of sergeant.

Conklin believes Reno City Attorney Karl Hall purposely tried to embarrass her by disclosing her involvement in the gun sale to a defense attorney in a criminal case.

Since then, Conklin said she has been subjected to harsh reviews by a lieutenant who is not her daily supervisor and has repeatedly been denied requested assignments to the robbery/homicide division.

In his reply to Conklin's lawsuit, Deputy City Attorney Mark Dunagan denied each of Conklin's claims and also argued she has already released the city from liability on most of what she describes in her lawsuit.

Dunagan declined to comment further on the lawsuit, as did Reno Police Chief Jason Soto.

Conklin's lawyer Jason Guinasso said Conklin's previous lawsuit involved violations of her collectively bargained employment contract. She still has the right to sue the city for civil rights violations, he said.

"What wasn't ever dealt with were her civil rights claims relative to her being discriminated against as to her gender and orientation and being free from a hostile work environment," Guinasso said. "Those are the things that we have laid out in our complaint that need to be addressed by the city."