Tanisha Ross, while serving for the St. Louis Police

Tanisha Ross, while serving for the St. Louis Police

Tanisha Ross dreamt of being a police officer since she was 14 years old. When she joined the St. Louis Police Department in 2005, and the K9 Unit three years later, it was a dream come true. She knew that as a black woman officer she'd be in a very small minority, but the idea of being a pioneer wasn't a deterrent, it was a motivating factor.

It didn't take long, though, for her dream to turn into a nightmare.

According to her 2011 lawsuit, Sgt. Steven Gori, her direct supervisor in the 11-person K9 unit, began sexually harassing and humiliating Ross over and over again for nearly 18 months.

First, Gori sent a mock flyer around the department about Ross stating:



"Subject wanted for having the baddest body in the St. Louis area," it says. "Use extreme caution when approaching this subject. Approach this subject from behind for your own safety."

Gori asked her to sit on his lap, asked her to take off her bullet-resistant vest so that he could "see what (she is) working with," and invited her to his house to skinny dip in his hot tub.

Began assigning her to unfavorable shifts, evaluating her differently in performance reviews and denying her time off for training that was provided to male officers. It says Gori threatened her job and warned that he would seize her police dog if she did not accept his advances. It claims he also instructed another officer to forge her signature on a form waiving a promotional exam.

Other times, according to her lawsuit,When Ross filed her first complaint, all hell started to break loose. Ross stated that Sgt. Gori and Lt. Mike Deeba:No longer willing to accept the abuse, Ross filed her civil suit against the department and cited Sgt. Gori and Lt. Mike Deeba. She filed the suit on December 22, 2011. Still in the department, something unthinkable happened just two weeks later , as you can read below.