Oct 23, 2017 By The 3 min read

A Washington County police officer filed suit against the City of Monongahela, claiming she was a victim of gender discrimination while working there part time.

Lindsi Kopko of Washington, Pennsylvania, alleged in a federal suit that after she complained that a Monongahela officer harassed her while she worked part-time for the city, she was refused full-time work there, harassed by co-workers, and eventually, officials stopped scheduling her to work at all.

Kopko, according to the complaint filed by attorney Robert A. Bracken, was hired as a part-time officer in the city in 2008. In 2010, she filed a complaint against a male officer, alleging he sent her harassing text messages. After a hearing on the complaint, that officer resigned, Bracken wrote.

A civil service exam was held for his full-time position, and Kopko was the second highest scorer, the suit indicated. She was told she would be hired for the next available full-time opening but was again passed over in 2012, the suit stated.

Not hiring a full-time officer violated the union contract, which called for six full-time officers, Bracken wrote.

During that time, the suit claimed, Mayor Robert Kepics harassed Kopko by saying she was sleeping at work and making derogatory comments about the city. The suit indicated those were untrue accusations.

Kepics did not respond to a request for comment.

Officers in the department also harassed Kopko by putting pictures on her locker, including photos of rats, posters that said “stop snitching” and pictures of male genitals and other sexual drawings, the suit claimed.

Kopko eventually filed a complaint of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the suit claimed she was subjected to retaliation at work.

Additional genital drawings and union stickers were put on her locker, one officer called her names and changed his clothes in front of her and she was accused of dating and sleeping with officers, Bracken wrote. Officers were directed to “dig some dirt up” on her, the suit claimed, and Kopko was singled out and written up over insignificant or false allegations, but male officers were not written up for those same things.

The suit claimed Kopko was told that Kepics was “on the war path” and she was the target. Bracken also alleged Kepics said she wouldn’t get a full-time job as long as he was in office.

Officials in the city stopped giving her shifts in the summer 2013 even though they were available and she was available to work them, the suit claimed. The shifts were given to officers with less seniority.

Kopko said she was never put back on the schedule after telling the city she was pregnant and taking maternity leave. When she came back from leave, she repeatedly asked about the schedule, but was ignored.

The four-count suit claimed gender discrimination, hostile work environment, unlawful retaliation and violations of the state’s Human Relations Act. The filing asks for damages in excess of $75,000.