Former Takoma Park Police Department Dispatcher Resolves Claims Against the City of Takoma Park, Maryland For $1.0 Million
Correia & Puth client Kakila Cooper settles her Montgomery County Human Rights Law claims of sex harassment and retaliation against the City of Takoma Park, Maryland.
April 16, 2025, Washington, D.C. – The City of Takoma Park, Maryland and Ms. Kakila Cooper, a former dispatcher for the Takoma Park Police Department, have reached an agreement to settle Ms. Cooper’s claims of sex harassment and retaliation for $1.0 million.
Ms. Cooper was employed by the City of Takoma Park as a communications dispatcher from April 2022 to October 2023. In her civil complaint, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court in May 2024 under the Montgomery County Human Rights Law, Ms. Cooper asserted that soon after she was hired, a Sergeant in the police department began to sexually harass her during her overnight shifts, which she worked alone. While hovering over Ms. Cooper in the tight confines of the Dispatch office, the Sergeant “described his sex life in lurid terms, repeatedly asked Ms. Cooper to accompany him to a sex club, made lecherous comments about her body [,] begged her to have sex with him” and showed her “sexually explicit photos of himself and his wife.”
During legal proceedings, Ms. Cooper further claimed that police officers shunned and ridiculed her after learning that the Sergeant had been suspended because of her reports that he had harassed her. She was ordered to participate in multiple investigative interviews conducted by high-level officers who insinuated that she had invited the Sergeant’s attention. For months, the Department left Ms. Cooper in the dark about its investigation into her complaints of harassment, thus allowing rumors of the Sergeant’s imminent return spread, and causing Ms. Cooper great anxiety and fear that the Sergeant might return to work at any moment. Although the City of Takoma Park found that the Sergeant had engaged in the reported harassment, it permitted him to keep his job and return to work, without advanced notice to Ms. Cooper. After she filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Office of Human Rights alleging discrimination and retaliation, Ms. Cooper asserted that the Department “targeted [her] through yet another investigation, in which officers accused her of making false statements,” demanded she disclose her communications with her attorneys, and “threatened to interfere with an offer of employment she had received.”
Ms. Cooper was represented in her lawsuit by attorneys Linda Correia, Subhashini Bollini, and Kelsey Speyer of the civil rights law firm Correia & Puth, PLLC.
Reflecting on Ms. Cooper’s lawsuit and settlement, Subhashini Bollini stated, “Ms. Cooper is a courageous public servant who stood up for her rights, even when her doing so meant that she
became a target of hostility at work. We are proud to have helped her hold the Takoma Park Police Department accountable by seeking justice in court.”
The City of Takoma Park, Maryland agreed to pay Ms. Cooper $1.0 million to settle her claims prior to a jury trial.
“Unfortunately, sexual harassment is still a prevalent issue in modern workplaces, especially for women working in male-dominated environments,” said Linda Correia. “This resolution sends a clear message to employers that sexual harassment and retaliation will not be tolerated in our community, and especially by the very members of law enforcement tasked with protecting the citizens of Maryland.”
Regarding the resolution of her claims, Ms. Cooper stated, “I am happy that the truth came out and that I fought back.”
For more news coverage, check out: The Washington Post, Fox 5, WTOP, and Bethesda Magazine.
***
Correia & Puth, PLLC is a civil rights law firm based in the District of Columbia dedicated to representing individuals confronting discrimination, retaliation, and unfair treatment. The lawyers of Correia & Puth are staunch advocates for individuals who face discrimination in the workplace, schools, healthcare settings, and other places of public accommodation. Correia & Puth bring decades of experience to this fight, including major victories for employees confronting harassment and discrimination due to sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy, and have long fought for whistleblower rights and against unlawful retaliation.
