Oceanside Officer Files Harassment Suit

A female Oceanside police officer has sued the city, accusing the Police Department of allowing and encouraging sexual harassment on the job.

In the lawsuit filed in Vista Superior Court on Monday, Officer Candis J. Baker, one of five women on Oceanside’s force of 180 sworn officers, charged that her superiors gave her false performance evaluations, forced her to endure sexual comments and singled her out for harassment because she is a woman.

“This has destroyed my life, my career, my reputation and my credibility, and it’s still going on,” said Baker, who has been in law enforcement for seven years, the past three in Oceanside.

Baker, who is still on the force, said supervisors looked the other way when she was harassed, and she accused her platoon supervisor, Lt. Michael Alleman, of “orchestrating a scheme of conduct intended to force (her) to work in an escalating hostile work environment.”

Police officials declined to comment on the suit.

The suit also alleges that on several occasions freshly soiled condoms were placed at Baker’s house, in her bathroom and on her car while it was parked in the Police Department parking lot. She also has endured obscene phone calls that continue to this day, she said.

“I’ve been told by the upper echelons that the only reason I’m having these problems is because of the way I look . . . and I have been told that by everyone,” said Baker, a 37-year-old blonde with blue eyes.

Last year, rumors that Baker was having an affair with a sergeant were tolerated by the department, and an internal affairs investigation turned into a witch hunt against her, the suit alleged.

Baker, who said she was out of state on vacation when the affair is alleged to have taken place, said the harassment has affected the way she works when on patrol.

“It’s real scary. I have learned to become so careful. . . . I am very careful when I contact anyone. I am beyond nice. I don’t want a confrontation because I am afraid that the officer who is covering me won’t help,” Baker said.

The suit, which seeks damages due to mental and emotional distress, asks the court to require the Police Department to train officers in anti-discrimination laws and to investigate the discrimination complaint.