Burton Police Chief Brian Ross and two female Burton police officers, Farah Glasstetter and Sarah Conquest, have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, two current and one former police officer, the police department's unions, as well as a city council member.
It's the second federal lawsuit involving some of the same individuals in less than two months.
Glasstetter, who is Arab-American and Muslim, and Conquest, who is Asian-American and gay, allege they were subjected to a hostile work environment, racist, sexist and homophobic remarks, and were falsely accused of cheating on exams after they won promotion to sergeant.
Attorney Muneeb Ahmad is with the Just Right Law firm. He represents the three plaintiffs.
"As soon as complaints were made and the police chief was made aware, he would push some of the command officers to record it and investigate it properly — and that never happened," he said.
The lawsuit also names City Council Member Tina Conley as a defendant, for allegedly retaliating against Glasstetter for filing a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The police officers named as defendants in the newer case previously sued the city and police chief in September.
The lawsuit was filed after Kevin Jones was fired, and Kevin Kissell was demoted to patrol officer. The lawsuit says those actions violated their civil rights, and were in retaliation for their allegations that the chief was having an affair with Officer Glasstetter.
Ahmad says the claim of an affair between Ross and Glasstetter is false.
Burton city officials did not reply to a request for comment, nor did Council Member Conley.
