Darleene Barrientos
A lieutenant testified at the Glendale Police sexual-harassment trial
Friday that he was aware a male sergeant was spending an inordinate
amount of time in a female officer's assigned beat, but added he
never saw anything inappropriate happen.
Lt. Don Meredith, head of the department's traffic bureau,
testified he knew some members of the department referred to Sgt.
Mark Hanson as "13 Sam," with "Sam" being cop slang for "sergeant"
and "13" being Officer Katie Freiders' assigned district.
Under examination by defense lawyer Sergio Bent, Meredith said he
noticed Hanson was showing up at several of Frieders' calls while she
was a probationary officer and that he had a conversation with
Hanson about it. But Meredith said he never saw or heard Hanson do or
say anything inappropriate to her.
Frieders is one of three female Glendale Police officers suing the
city, alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation for
complaining.
Meredith also said he was told by a female officer that some of
her male colleagues were complaining during coffee breaks about
Frieders' performance on the job. Meredith said he held a roll call
and excluded the four female officers to reprimand the male officers.
"I told them I was tired of their immaturity," he said.
Meredith said Freiders never made a complaint to him about Hanson.
Plaintiff Jamie Franke, a sworn officer for 13 years, also
continued her testimony Friday and fought back tears as she spoke.
"I've been extremely stressed, worried about my job, worried about
keeping my job," Franke said. "This has been a tremendous strain on
my marriage. I'm worried about my husband's career now as a result of
what's happened to me."
Under examination by plaintiffs' lawyer Brad Gage, Franke
testified that she was given negative employee evaluations and put on
a performance-improvement plan because she served as a witness in two
separate sexual-harassment complaints. Being put on an
performance-improvement plan would be a stain on her reputation for
the rest of her career, she said.
"Where else am I going to get a job?" Franke said, when Gage asked
her why she wanted to continue working at the Glendale Police
Department. "My evaluations have been made to look so bad. Once
[potential employers] see those negative evaluations, I won't have
any earning opportunities."
Under cross-examination by Bent, Franke said she was placed on the
plan in November 2000 and is still on it.
"I believe, because of my pregnancy, I was kept on the
[performance-improvement plan]," she said.
