Former Takoma Park police dispatcher Kakila Cooper has settled her sexual harassment case against the city’s police department and the city itself for $1 million.
She alleged a sergeant she worked with alone on the overnight shift harassed her over several months between 2022 and 2023.
She said the sergeant would describe in explicit detail his own sex life, repeatedly ask her to go with him to a sex club and frequently make lewd comments about her body while asking her to have sex with him.
“He also forced her to watch pornographic videos and look at sexually explicit photos of himself,” Subha Bollini, Cooper’s attorney, told WTOP.
When she came forward to her supervisors, Bollini said Cooper faced retaliation from other police officers in the form of shunning her in the workplace, starting rumors and telling humiliating jokes about her.
After an internal investigation, the sergeant in question was demoted. No charges were filed.
In a statement released Friday, the City of Takoma Park said it “takes allegations of employee misconduct seriously and works to ensure employee safety and minimize harm while providing due process to all involved.”
In a statement to WTOP, the Takoma Park city manager’s office said they were aware of the settlement but would not comment on litigation or personnel matters.
Bollini said no one should have to face sexual harassment in the workplace and praised Cooper for coming forward.
“Filing a complaint in court meant she was able to speak her truth,” Bollini said.
Cooper no longer works for Takoma Park and is a dispatcher in another jurisdiction.
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