LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LMPD officers at the center of former Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel’s dismissal is suing the department and the City of Louisville.
Major Shannon Lauder, along with husband Lt. Jeffrey Lauder, named Mayor Craig Greenberg, ex-Chief Gwinn-Villaroel and three other members of LMPD in 49-page lawsuit. Greenberg and Gwinn-Villaroel are accused of negligence. The mayor dismissed the claim as "ridiculous."
The complaint, filed Monday, states “It is clear that LMPD leadership has consistently abused its power and thus fostered the continuation and evolution of a toxic and hostile work environment.”
It stems from a party in Aug. 2020, where Major Lauren Carby accused Lauder of being “grossly inappropriate” at work and Lauder’s husband Jeff making inappropriate comments about her body and “unwanted, unsolicited sexual advances” toward her.
The Lauder suit said Carby was at the party and that she confronted Jeff about Shannon’s alleged tryst with a sex crimes detective also in attendance. Shannon spoke with Carby about squashing the rumors of the affair, but somehow, they spread throughout the department.
Carby is also suing the city and department about this incident.
The couple's lawsuit said the rumors were addressed with the three previous chiefs, Yvette Gentry, Erika Shields and Gwinn-Villaroel, but no action was taken to address the hostile working environment allegedly at the hands of Maj. Brian Kuriger and preventing further hits on the Lauders’ reputation and careers. Shannon accuses Shields of advising her that she could avoid harassment if she were, quote, "fatter and uglier."
The lauder lawsuit also states Jeff was the Basic Training sergeant at the LMPD Training Academy from April 2019 to September 2020 and Kuriger was Jeff’s supervisor.
During that time, the couple claims Kuriger made inappropriate comments such as discussing Shannon’s body and other female officers, disparaging comments about Shannon, “social media stalking” new recruits and significant others and making sexual comments about them and allegedly receiving lap dances from female recruits at training academy graduation parties.
According to the lawsuit, the rumors negatively affected Shannon and Jeff’s abilities to do their jobs professionally and lead their respective teams within the department to the best of their ability.
Kuriger was placed on administrative leave after Lauder told Gwinn-Villaroel during a May 22 meeting that Kuriger harassed and attacked her.
The couple also claimed LMPD mishandled internal investigations into them—which Kuriger ended up taking over. Outlined in a letter, those complaints passed from Gwinn-Villaroel's office to the mayor's. However, the mayor would not answer when WHAS11 asked if he received that letter.
Gwinn-Villaroel was eventually placed on leave due to her handling of the sexual harassment allegations but resigned on June 24.
Since then, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced changes to LMPD’s sexual harassment policies and procedures.
Most of the changes now focus on how sexual harassment is defined, improving the reporting process, new training and support for employees who report sexual harassment.
Greenberg was asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday.
The mayor said he is waiting on the results of independent investigations on how LMPD handled all the sexual harassment complaints.
"I'm hesitant to give any timelines, but I'm hoping one is done in the next month," he said.
LMPD responded by issuing the following statement:
“LMPD takes seriously any allegations of sexual harassment or retaliation within the department and multiple investigations have been launched and are pending. These investigations are imperative given the conflicting narratives of the recently filed lawsuits alleging malfeasance and sexual misconduct. While LMPD cannot comment on the specifics of the lawsuits, we would like to reiterate that LMPD is committed to conducting expedient, thorough, and impartial investigations of all sexual misconduct allegations once claims are brought to our attention. On June 25th, an enhanced multi-tiered approach was immediately implemented to strengthen LMPD’s response to sexual harassment allegations. Those measures include clearly defining sexual harassment, streamlining the reporting of sexual harassment allegations, mandatory sexual harassment training at all levels, providing support systems for reporting parties, and adopting new procedures for preventing retaliation. LMPD remains committed to ensuring a culture of respect for all sworn and professional staff members and will not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind by its members.”
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.