Redmond Police Department (RPD) former officer Marcella Fogg and one-time lieutenant/officer Brent Howard have filed claims of $1 million each against the City of Redmond, RPD and several members of the police force.
Fogg, 30, recently filed a $3 million claim against the city for ongoing harassment and retaliation since posing as a senior in a drugs investigation at Redmond High School (RHS) in 2010.
The new claim, which she filed on May 31, cites that officer (now lieutenant) and former friend Todd Bowman purposely inflicted emotional distress upon Fogg and defamed, libeled and slandered her character, according to court documents obtained by the Redmond Reporter through a public records request.
Bowman has seen the claim and told the Reporter on Wednesday that “anybody can say anything. It’s not factual,” adding that he didn’t want to talk specifics on an ongoing lawsuit.
Fogg’s latest claim states that Bowman spread rumors to other members of the police force about Fogg engaging in a relationship with a minor during and after her undercover work and having a relationship with another man while she and her husband were going through a divorce.
According to court documents, Bowman also told a colleague that Fogg allegedly informed him that she wasn’t sure who fathered her baby back in March of 2012. Fogg and her husband participated in a DNA test, “which conclusively has proven that the father of her baby is indeed her husband,” the documents state.
Fogg’s claim adds that her relationship with Bowman changed after she informed an outside attorney for Redmond about a former Redmond officer’s two-year sexual relationship with an 11- or 12-year-old child overseas. Bowman told Fogg that she “had a duty to report” the information, documents state.
According to Fogg’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim, which her attorney Bob Kim provided to the Reporter, she was recently terminated from the RPD.
In Howard’s claim, which was filed on May 24, court documents note that he suffered “emotional distress and personal upheaval” after resigning from his job in lieu of termination, which stemmed from an alleged “unreported traffic collision” with Howard brushing the side mirror of his patrol car at an apartment complex. Kim, also Howard’s attorney, said that his client also once left the back gate down on a police SUV and it was damaged.
Howard, 50, learned that he was under an internal affairs investigation, which was never completed. He learned that he would be fired and asked an officer about his Loudermill rights, his entitlement to due process when faced with allegations of misconduct. He was encouraged to resign and was told that a Loudermill hearing could be emotionally taxing and he would have a better chance of finding another job if he resigned, according to court documents. Officer Sandra English and Chief Ronald Gibson are named in Howard’s claim.
Kim said that Howard was at first an RPD lieutenant for 14 or 15 years, left to work in security at Microsoft for two to three years and then returned to the RPD as an officer until the fall of 2012.
“He’s trying to find himself again. It’s been hell on him,” Kim said. “I think he’ll get back on his feet. There’s some (job) opportunities.”
When asked for a comment about the two claims, City of Redmond chief policy adviser and communications and marketing administrator Jeri Rowe-Curtis said they are not able to provide an interview or commentary at this moment out of respect for the litigation and personnel processes and persons involved.
• RPD officer Scott Bruton has withdrawn the $1 million claim he filed against the City of Redmond on April 24, said Kim, who is Bruton’s attorney, as well. According to court documents, Bruton experienced “severe emotional distress” and “humiliation” as a result of the “sexual harassment, discrimination, disparate treatment and hostile work environment” he has been subjected to since May 2009.
