SAN DIEGO (KGTV) \u2014 The City of San Diego has agreed to pay $250,000 to a police officer who alleged she was sexually harassed and retaliated against after reporting what she said was racial bias during a pedestrian stop, Team 10 has learned.<\/p>\n
The city agreed to pay Jennifer Gregory the money but continues to deny the allegations she made in a 2022 civil lawsuit, according to recently filed documents.<\/p>\n
Gregory, who joined the force in 2012, alleged in her 2022 lawsuit that her captain, Manuel Del Toro, called her a \u201cRat F*** Snitch, a Buddy F***er,\u201d and a \u201cBlue Falcon,\u201d a military slang for a comrade who betrays teammates for personal gain, after she accused two white officers of racial bias.<\/p>\n
The incident stems from a pedestrian stop on Imperial Avenue in 2021 when officers Mark Bellatti and Mark Sullivan detained two people for jaywalking.<\/p>\n
According to court records, Gregory wrote that her colleagues were \u201cassholes\u201d on a piece of paper she showed to a witness who came out of her home to question the legality of the stop.<\/p>\n
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Amol Brown\/Team 10<\/p>\n
The San Diego Police Department headquarters are pictured downtown. <\/p>\n
Gregory alleged in her lawsuit that Bellatti and Sullivan cited the Black individual involved in the stop but not the white person.<\/p>\n
The witness who came out of her home filed a complaint with the police force\u2019s internal affairs unit.<\/p>\n
During the internal probe, Gregory \u201cmade it clear that this was a situation of racial bias,\u201d her lawsuit alleged.<\/p>\n
The internal affairs investigation found Gregory violated police policy and cleared officers Bellatti and Sullivan of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Gregory alleges Del Toro then made it clear he didn\u2019t want her working in his division anymore and called her a snitch.<\/p>\n
‘Sexually offensive’ comments<\/b><\/p>\n
Later that year, Del Toro accused Gregory of communicating with community activist Tasha Williamson about the stop and other actions of police officers within the division, her lawsuit alleged. Gregory denied that she had spoken to the activist and said she wasn\u2019t the snitch.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit further alleged Del Toro put Gregory\u2019s pending transfer to the department\u2019s watch commander\u2019s office on hold in an act of retaliation.<\/p>\n
Gregory filed a complaint against Del Toro with the San Diego Equal Employment Investigations Office, alleging the captain made ‘sexually offensive’ comments and embarrassing name-calling.<\/p>\n
According to the lawsuit, the employment investigation found Del Toro violated city policy and determined two other officers supported a sexually inappropriate posting about Gregory.<\/p>\n
Harassment taken seriously: SDPD<\/b><\/p>\n
Despite those findings, then-Police Chief David Nisleit allowed Del Toro to remain captain of the Southeastern Division, the lawsuit alleged.<\/p>\n
Gregory, Sullivan and Bellatti all remain on active duty with the force while Del Toro is currently on medical leave, according to Ashley Nicholes, the communications manager for the police chief\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Nicholes said Del Toro got a two-day suspension and disciplinary transfer following an internal affairs investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSDPD takes allegations of harassment and discrimination very seriously and holds its employees accountable to the highest professional standards,\u201d she said in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n
None of the officers named in the lawsuit returned requests for comment Friday.<\/p>\n