WALNUT CREEK — An Albany police officer emailed a topless photo of a Walnut Creek police dispatcher he had known a decade earlier to the woman’s colleague, who then forwarded it to others in the police department, according to legal claims obtained by this newspaper.

The explicit photo sharing last fall led to the second dispatcher’s firing, according to the claims, while the police officer, whose actions the woman likened to “distribution of revenge porn,” continues at his job.

“It’s a gross invasion of privacy and clearly tarnishes the reputation of law enforcement,” said Rick Madsen, an attorney representing the subject of the explicit photo, who this newspaper is not naming. “And it’s been personally humiliating to my client.”

On Sept. 3, 2014, the 33-year-old Contra Costa resident was notified by her supervisor that Albany police Officer Peter O’Connor sent the decade-old photo to Walnut Creek police dispatcher Amy Ballock, who in turn shared it with at least one other person in the department. That person notified her supervisors.

Ballock has since been fired, the claim alleges, while O’Connor continues to work as a cop for the East Bay agency. It’s unclear whether he faced any discipline over the allegations.

In her March 3 claims to both cities, the woman listed a number of allegations against both police departments: violations of her privacy and civil rights, sexual discrimination, harassment, negligence, failure to properly investigate and distribution of “revenge porn.”

Attempts to contact Ballock and O’Connor were unsuccessful, and both claims were denied by the cities May 5. The claimant and O’Connor knew each other a decade ago, the woman alleged.

“To the best of claimant’s knowledge, Officer O’Connor disturbingly retained the 10-year-old photo since that time,” according to the claim. O’Connor and Ballock became aware that they both knew the plaintiff and “exchanged disrespectful and inappropriate emails about claimant, including the one containing the nude photograph.”

Both allegedly used official work emails for the exchanges. Albany Assistant City Manager Nicole Almaguer said O’Connor has worked for the department since 2006 and continues in the same capacity. She said the city could not comment on possible discipline of O’Connor because of police personnel privacy laws.

“The city and Police Department are prohibited by law from disclosing police officer personnel records, including investigations of misconduct claims and any resulting findings or actions,” she said. “However, I can tell you that as a general policy and practice, we take allegations of inappropriate behavior very seriously. When such allegations are brought to our attention, we conduct a prompt investigation and take appropriate action if warranted by the findings of the investigation.”

Walnut Creek’s city attorney also declined to discuss specifics about the case. “The city does not comment on requests for confidential personnel information, but we can confirm that Ms. Ballock is no longer employed by the city,” Walnut Creek City Attorney Steven Mattas said in an email.

The alleged victim is asking for more than $25,000 in general damages, medical and incidental damages, wage and future earnings loss, punitive damages and attorney fees.

“As a result of the occurrence described, claimant has suffered serious and severe emotional humiliation and distress, mental anguish, shock, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, powerlessness, physical manifestations of emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life,” according to the claim.

Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.