Sheriff’s Deputy Files Sexual Harassment Suit

A sheriff’s deputy has filed a sexual harassment suit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, alleging that the then-head of the department’s training bureau repeatedly threatened and groped her and that the department has a pattern of discriminating against female employees.

Irene Desmarteau, a 13-year veteran of the department, charges that Capt. Rufus Tamayo demanded that she perform sexual acts with him in exchange for promised promotions. Desmarteau said she was passed over for numerous positions, despite high marks on tests and in interviews.

“My lifelong dream has been to work in law enforcement,” Desmarteau said Thursday. “I have been a deputy sheriff for 13 years, and my only fear is that by coming forward, I have jeopardized my career with the Sheriff’s Department.”

The suit, filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses the county and the Sheriff’s Department of creating a “hostile and offensive work environment” through “express and implied threats of retaliation and disparate treatment.”

Tamayo was relieved of duty with pay in April from the Sheriff’s Department, which is conducting an internal investigation into his conduct.

The lawsuit comes as the department continues efforts to comply with a consent decree stemming from a 1980 sexual discrimination lawsuit that it unsuccessfully appealed to the state Supreme Court. The judgment and legal fees cost the county about $20 million, sheriff’s officials said.

The consent decree required the department to develop and implement a sexual harassment and discrimination policy, which is scheduled to take effect later this year.

The county counsel’s office, which represents the Sheriff’s Department, did not return repeated calls for comment about the new suit. Sheriff’s officials said they had not yet read the suit and had no comment.

Despite the court orders from the 1980 case, Desmarteau’s attorney, Richard Love, charges in the suit that the department has continued to discriminate against women in hiring, promotion and transfers.

According to the suit, Desmarteau applied for several promotions from 1998 to 2001 but was rejected for each position and was not given a reason. Love alleged in the suit that his client was denied the positions partly based on her gender.

In February 2001, the suit says, Tamayo began telling Desmarteau that he was connected to high-ranking people in the department and had helped several deputies’ careers. A few months later, it says, Tamayo began threatening her and demanding sexual conduct. He sent e-mails saying he was thinking of her and complimented the deputy on her appearance, according to the suit.

Desperate to switch from her job in background investigations, Desmarteau nonetheless asked for Tamayo’s help. She began working in the training division in June 2001 as an “executive deputy.” Desmarteau alleged that for the next several months, Tamayo repeatedly touched and groped her and suggested that she owed him sexual favors. He also implied that any advancement within the department would be based on her compliance with his demands, the suit says.

She also alleged that Tamayo continually asked about her sex life with her husband and urged her to divorce him.

Desmarteau did not willingly consent to the alleged sexual conduct and did not report it for fear of her safety and of retaliation against her or her husband, who also works for the Sheriff’s Department, according to the suit.

Tamayo, who joined the department in 1973 as a deputy, served as a sergeant and lieutenant before being promoted to captain and being appointed by Sheriff Lee Baca to lead the training bureau, the suit says. Tamayo first left the department on medical leave in December, soon after the death of his wife.

After Desmarteau discussed Tamayo’s alleged conduct with a supervisor, an internal affairs investigation was opened. It is still pending. Desmarteau went on disability leave this spring, her attorney said.

Love is asking for a jury trial, but did not specify the amount of damages his client is seeking.