After two years of what she calls a systematic removal of female officers from prestigious positions within the Orlando Police Department, Sgt. Rhonda Huckelbery filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming gender, age and disability discrimination.
Huckelbery, 48, was among the officers involved in a controversial takedown arrest that led to the shooting of a suspected credit-card thief in the parking lot of a busy Orlando Target store in November 2010.
All the officers involved in that shooting were cleared of any wrongdoing and records show that Huckelbery, who did not fire at the suspect, has never been formally investigated or disciplined in that shooting or in any other incident in her 25-year career.
Huckelbery is suing OPD for at least $15,000 -- the minimum to get a lawsuit into circuit court. She first started to notice the alleged discrimination in July 2011, her complaint said.
Despite years of "success and stellar" work, Huckelbery was forced to take at least two pay cuts and forced to change jobs several times, the complaint said. In each case cited in the lawsuit, she was replaced by younger men who had less experience.
Huckelbery declined an interview regarding this case. She said she is under an order from the department not to talk to media about any case -- including her own.
OPD has not yet been provided with an official copy of the lawsuit and does not comment on pending legal matters, spokesman Sgt. Jim Young said.
"The city of Orlando will address any such accusations in a court of law, if such a suit is filed, and is permitted to be heard by the courts," he said, adding that all OPD employees are treated equally, regardless of gender, age or disability.
In the complaint, Huckelbery says she was removed from the Patrol Tactical Operations Unit, which targets violent crime, in July 2011.
She was reassigned to another patrol unit that required her to work longer hours, including weekends and gave her "fewer opportunities for growth, less interesting assignment and fewer financial opportunities."
Since then, the complaint said, Huckelbery was passed up for a position on the downtown bike patrol unit, then removed from her higher-paying midnight patrol shift and although she met the requirements, she was denied another open position.
Huckelbery now works as a supervisor in OPD's Airport Division at Orlando International Airport.
Huckelbery says she was purposely reassigned to airport patrol, despite her objection, so she would leave OPD, the complaint said.
"The assignment was made to steer Huckelbery's career path to a dead end and to force her out of the Department," it said.
In this job -- which pays less than her previous positions -- her duties are less challenging than her than previous assignments, there is little to no opportunity for promotion and she would no longer have a take-home patrol car, the complaint said.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
