Reuters/Carlo Allegri
A married NYPD detective claims her commanding officer subjected her to an unceasing barrage of harassment, from providing her a trip day in change for her underwear to sending sexually specific textual content messages and “photos of his penis and napkins with ejaculate on it.”
The setting was so poisonous, she feared for her household’s security, in accordance with a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court docket and obtained by The Each day Beast.
Det. Michelle Almanzar says she was successfully compelled to let Capt. Brian Flynn’s conduct proceed, “as a result of when she tried to get him to cease, not solely did she endure, however he would usually take his frustration out on her work companion in addition to her crew.”
Almanzar, a nine-year veteran assigned to the fiftieth Precinct within the Bronx, ultimately turned so anxious when she needed to go close to Flynn’s workplace, which was instantly in keeping with the restroom, that she refused to go alone, the go well with alleges.
“It’s loads worse than it sounds,” Almanzar’s legal professional, Leslee Schwartz, advised The Each day Beast. “Consider me, I’ve seen the images.”
New York State Supreme Court docket
There are “not less than two others” in the identical state of affairs as Almanzar, however they're “very petrified of coming ahead,” Schwartz stated, including, “I implore them to come back ahead. In the event that they wish to attain out to me anonymously, that’s positive. However I actually don’t need these girls to suppose that they’ve achieved one thing unsuitable due to a creep.”
The alleged harassment, which Almanzar says started shortly after Flynn transferred to the fiftieth in April 2021, began out with “sexually inappropriate” textual content messages and “sexually charged” feedback, in accordance with the lawsuit.
Issues then escalated, with Flynn texting Almanzar dick pics and worse, which she says “gave the impression to be taken in his workplace on the fiftieth precinct.” He allegedly requested Almanzar—who Schwartz says is married to a fellow police officer—to exit on dates with him, and “supplied her particular remedy so long as she continued to permit his advances; together with one very particular occasion whereby he textual content[ed] to her, ‘I used to be going to present you a Commander’s Day if you happen to simply gave me your panties.’”
“Plaintiff Almanzar did her finest to disregard and/or redirect his consideration, however that solely appeared to make him extra aggressive towards her,” the lawsuit states.
In response, Almanzar says in her grievance that she tried to dam Flynn’s quantity on her cellphone. Nonetheless, he merely lashed out at her by making her needlessly redo experiences she had filed, and denying her requests for time without work, Almanzar alleges. So, she says, she “would usually allow him to ship her sexually specific texts,” for her profession’s sake.
The harassment went on for a year-and-a-half, in accordance with Almanzar, who says she frequently advised Flynn that she was not all for having a sexual relationship with him. At one level, in accordance with Almanzar’s lawsuit, an offended Flynn, “in an try and ‘present her who’s boss,’ posted indicators across the ground [with] photos of a ‘rat in a cop’s uniform with ‘Almanzar’ [written] on them.”
“She tried to get away from him and she or he wasn’t permitted to, due to no matter feedback he made [to others in the department about Almanzar],” Schwartz advised The Each day Beast. “He blocked it, no one would take her. The Bronx Warrant Division is just not a bit of cake, she’s a cop, through-and-through… My consumer by no means had an affair, and by no means did something besides to attempt to get him to not punish her.”
An NYPD sergeant salutes the American flag exterior the fiftieth Precinct station home.
Reuters/Idrees Latif
Final November, Almanzar determined she had had sufficient. She reported Flynn to the NYPD’s Equal Employment Alternative (EEO) workplace, and turned over her cellphone to investigators. Flynn was then transferred out of the fiftieth Precinct, however Almanzar says she was by no means knowledgeable “as to what he had been advised, regardless of the very fact she was extraordinarily fearful for her security in addition to that of her household, ought to Defendant Captain Flynn be advised it was due to her grievance.”
“Clearly, right this moment he is aware of,” Schwartz stated on Wednesday.
Since she accused Flynn of being a harasser, Almanzar “has been stored fully away from any investigation, besides to study ‘by way of the grapevine’ that Defendant Captain Flynn was dealing with self-discipline for one thing fully unrelated to her complaints,” her lawsuit states.
Almanzar’s husband, who's assigned to a distinct precinct elsewhere within the metropolis, has additionally had a tough go of issues in mild of her state of affairs, in accordance with Schwartz.
“Folks speak,” she stated. “And the speak wasn’t truthful.”
On Jan. 9, Almanzar knowledgeable the NYPD she could be suing the division, Flynn, and a bunch of unnamed sergeants on the fiftieth. A day later, the NYPD’s Inner Affairs Bureau (IAB) requested Almanzar to fulfill with them. After the assembly, which Schwartz attended together with her, Almanzar says in her go well with that she went again to the fiftieth, the place one of many sergeants yelled at her in entrance of a bunch of different cops.
“You couldn’t simply maintain him completely satisfied, now look, we're all beneath the microscope,” the sergeant stated, in accordance with Almanzar, who requested the officer—a mandated reporter, beneath the legislation—why he by no means reported the harassment himself.
“We figured you appreciated it,” the sergeant allegedly replied.
Almanzar, who stays on the job, is now looking for damages of an undetermined quantity, plus curiosity, legal professional’s charges, authorized prices, and “some other reduction the Court docket deems simply.”
Schwartz famous that Flynn additionally stays employed by the NYPD, and stated, “We now have no information of him being disciplined.” She stated there may be extra to the story that “we’re not able to disclose,” and that she’ll have to attend to know when that can be.
“I wish to see how this hits first, and what, if any, retribution can be aimed in direction of [Almanzar],” she stated. “So for now, there are issues that may nonetheless be stored beneath wraps for security functions… My consumer didn't wish to sue, however no one wished to speak to us. No person wished to take care of it. The brand new commissioner put out an entire booklet on how her division was imagined to take care of [these sorts of complaints]. Not one factor in that booklet was achieved.”
On Tuesday, an NYPD civilian worker filed go well with in opposition to a lieutenant she claims sexually assaulted her and threatened to throw her in entrance of a practice if she ever stated something about it. Earlier this 12 months, the official in control of stopping office harassment within the NYPD was reportedly fired for sexually harassing a subordinate.
Flynn doesn't have a lawyer listed in court docket information and was unable to be reached for remark. In an emailed assertion, the NYPD declined to touch upon pending litigation, saying, “The Division doesn't tolerate sexual harassment and is dedicated to respectful work environments for our numerous workforce. The NYPD totally investigates all complaints it receives, and affords a number of reporting choices for NYPD staff, together with anonymously.”