Female officers file discrimination lawsuit against the Dallas Police Department
Dallas Police Department sued by two female officers
The Dallas Police Department is facing a lawsuit from two of its officers who say they were taken off assignments because they are women. FOX 4's Lori Brown has more.
DALLAS - Two female Dallas police officers are suing the Dallas Police Department over claims they were discriminated against over their gender.
What we know:
Officer Meredith Leftwich and Senior Corporal Kimberly Howard of the Dallas Police Department are suing their employer over what they call discriminatory reasons.
Their federal lawsuit states the department downgraded four female officers from the Fugitive Unit in 2025, changing their status from "operational" to "partially operational."
Meredith Leftwich (M) and Kimberly Howard (R)
The suit claims Leftwich and Howard were downgraded based on the fact that they were women, citing quotes from trainers discussing Howard's stature as "simply her size."
Trainers claimed another woman was "too nice to pull the trigger," according to the suit.
Howard and Leftwich have since been moved back into "operational" status. They say the lawsuit comes after they exhausted the grievance process with the Dallas Police Department, a process that made its way to Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux.
What they're saying:
"I think that everything you see here reflects a hostile work environment that treats high-qualified, dependable, trustworthy females as disposable," says JoDee Neil, an attorney representing Howard and Leftwich.
Howard and Leftwich were not allowed to speak on camera related to the lawsuit.
"My goal, I would like to see the files wiped clean, maybe an apology, maybe a public statement. I would also like to obtain critical discovery so that we can learn exactly how severe and pervasive gender discrimination is at DPD," Neil said.
Jennifer Atherton, the President of the Dallas Police Women's Association, says she was met with more discriminatory comments by Major Gerald Smalley.
"He says, ‘Now, Jennifer, let me ask you, how many women are in SWAT right now?’ I said, 'I don't know if there's any women in SWAT right now,' and he said, 'Well, there's not. And maybe there's a reason for that.' Yeah, that was my reaction.
"What gets me fired up about this and keeps me talking about it is, in fighting for it, is that these two ladies are exemplary officers. They are good at their job. They're outstanding in aspects of their jobs where some of their male colleagues do not meet the same standard as they do."
The other side:
The Dallas Police Department did not respond to FOX 4's request for comment.
The City of Dallas declined to comment on pending litigation.
The Source: Information in this story comes from a lawsuit filed by two members of the Dallas Police Department.