Taylorsville police chief named in ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit

TAYLORSVILLE — Police Chief Del Craig has been named as a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed by a female officer alleging sexual harassment and retaliation from fellow officers after she reported the incident.

Craig was added as a defendant Jan. 26 in an amendment to a complaint originally filed against Taylorsville and its police department in U.S. District Court in December 2010.

Officer Jolayne "Jodie" Sampson's complaint stems from the "personal nature" and "abusive tone" of a phone message she allegedly received from a fellow Taylorsville police officer in April 2007, about two years after she joined the force, according to court documents.

"Officer Sampson received a sarcastic voice-mail message from a male caller stating: 'Hey, just checking up on you again. Wasn't that you on the date the other night? That's good, dating your, the other officers. That's always nice,'" the complaint states.

Sampson complained to Assistant Chief Wayne Dial three days later and shared with him her suspicions about who left the message, but the incident was not investigated, according to the complaint.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges that Dial told a subordinate about the message and Sampson's suspicions about who left it. The lawsuit also alleges that Dial knew the subordinate was good friends with the officer Sampson named in her complaint.

Since then, the lawsuit alleges that the department has looked for ways to "undermine officer Sampson's credibility and her standing in the department and with the city … by manufacturing incidents of alleged wrongdoing when none existed."

Earlier this week, the Taylorsville City Council voted to indemnify Craig and approved legal representation for the chief and the city in the matter.

City spokeswoman Aimee Newton declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing city policy that prohibits officials from talking about pending litigation.

Sampson's lawsuit alleges that the department retaliated against her by starting an "unfounded" internal affairs investigation against her and suspending her for clerical errors in paperwork, even though male colleagues who made similar mistakes were not disciplined.

The complaint states that Sampson met with Craig in September 2007 to talk about the "ongoing harassment."

"Chief Craig told officer Sampson that he was concerned that she was feeling targeted and that he would look into it and would speak with Assistant Chief Dial," the lawsuit states. "In fact, Chief Craig decided not to speak with the assistant chief and chose not to take any action regarding officer Sampson's complaint."