A sergeant in the New Orleans Police Department’s homicide squad has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that his unit’s former commander targeted him with homophobic and racial taunts while higher-ups turned a blind eye.

The workplace harassment suit, filed Tuesday by Sgt. Peter Hansche, continues a dispute pitting him against Jimmie Turner, who was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant and transferred out of the homicide squad after Hansche registered his complaints with the NOPD nearly two years ago.

The suit names the city and Turner as defendants. It seeks unspecified damages.

Turner has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying he believes he was the victim of a movement to oust him because he was the NOPD’s first black homicide commander and he had taken an unpopular disciplinary action against a particular detective.

Turner's attorney, Frank DeSalvo, said Wednesday, “I would be surprised if anyone rules against Jimmie Turner” at the conclusion of the case.

Neither the city nor the NOPD responded to a request for comment Wednesday about Hansche’s suit.

Demotion, 25-day suspension for NOPD lieutenant targeted by workplace harassment complaints A New Orleans Police Department lieutenant who lost his position as the commander of homicide investigators over a workplace harassment compla…

Hansche claims Turner began harassing him shortly after then-Superintendent Michael Harrison handed the reins of the homicide unit to Turner in July 2015.

Turner allegedly accused Hansche, who said he is heterosexual, of having romantic relationships with at least two other male sergeants. Additionally, Turner pressed the front of his body up against Hansche’s backside as other co-workers watched, and on another occasion kissed the top of Hansche’s head, the suit says.

Hansche, who is white, also claims that Turner uttered racial jokes that made him uncomfortable. According to the suit, Turner once asked for permission to call Hansche a “cracker,” a derogatory term for white people, especially poor rural Southerners.

In his 19-page suit, Hansche claims Turner told another white subordinate — whom he constantly misidentified — that “all you white boys look alike to me.”

Further, Hansche says, he was taking time off in December 2017 when he had to extend his leave due to an unspecified family emergency that required him to be treated by an NOPD psychologist. Hansche claims a member of the NOPD’s officer assistance program had authorized him to take additional, paid time off. Turner reclassified it as leave without pay.

Hansche also says that Turner reassigned investigators under Hansche’s command to other supervisors.

The suit, prepared by attorney Jessica Vasquez, contends that Turner’s actions caused “emotional and mental anguish to (Hansche), who was already in a precarious … situation.”

Hansche said he tolerated Turner’s behavior for a while, fearing retaliation. He theorized that Turner fixated on him because he was against “going along with … Turner’s every command without question.”

The 26-year veteran said other agency higher-ups “did nothing to report or discipline” Turner despite seeing or hearing his behavior.

The suit contains a statement attributed to Turner’s direct supervisor, Cmdr. Doug Eckert, warning that the “open door policy” he maintained with subordinates was not permission “just to come and cry about who you work for.” Eckert has since died.

“Effectively, Sgt. Hansche’s chain of command above the harasser stated … that Sgt. Hansche could not come to cry about who he works for,” the lawsuit said.

Hansche, a vice president of the Police Association of New Orleans, ultimately filed a grievance with the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau in late 2017. In a statement during the ensuing internal investigation, Deputy Superintendent Rannie Mushatt — now retired — referred to the complaint against Turner as “a crock,” Hansche’s suit says.

Nonetheless, the complaint resulted in an unpaid, 25-day suspension for Turner, who lost his lieutenant’s rank and was made a patrol district sergeant. DeSalvo said his client’s appeal of that punishment is pending with the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Hansche also filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prior to suing. The EEOC did not rule on whether the NOPD violated laws barring workplace discrimination.