Former Platte County dispatcher sues sheriff’s office for sex discrimination, retaliation
A former Platte County dispatcher has filed a lawsuit against the Platte County Sheriff’s Office alleging sex discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation under the Missouri Human Rights Act.
Lorrie Seager worked within the department for three years before resigning in March of 2023. The lawsuit mentions several other employees by name, including Sheriff Erik Holland, who was a major at the time before he was elected as sheriff in 2024, for “creating and/or allowing the discrimination and retaliation” against Seager.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the lawsuit, Seager alleges that her supervisor, Mandy Jones, made explicit sexual comments disguised as jokes to her and other employees. The suit says the comments started in 2022 when Jones would talk about her personal sex life and another male employee’s sex life. In one case, Seager points to when the supervisor said a coworker gets his sexual ideas from “smut” books, which contain explicit and graphic sexual content.
When the male employee reported the incident, Jones was disciplined, according to the lawsuit. However, when Seager complained about Jones’ alleged inappropriate comments, Jones was not disciplined, the lawsuit said.
Seager attempted to climb the chain of command to report these incidents, but Jones still didn’t face discipline. In one particular case, the lawsuit said, she went to Holland to report Jones, and Seager said he was more concerned about protecting Jones’ reputation.
“He told (Seager) that there was ‘a thin line between sexual harassment and defamation of character,’ and that if the Department investigated, it would find no sexual harassment, and Jones could sue Plaintiff and/or the Department for making false accusations,” the lawsuit said.
Seager also sent memos to Captain Tony Avery about the sexual comments despite her fear of retaliation.
While Seager was employed, another employee had a pending lawsuit against the department. Seager’s lawsuit alleges that another supervisor, Rachel Wheeler, tried to intimidate employees who supported the person who filed that other lawsuit, including Seager.
Wheeler and Jones would talk about Seager behind closed doors, causing a hostile work environment, the suit alleges. The sheriff’s office won the lawsuit against the other employee and began “nitpicking” Seager’s work, according to the suit.
The working conditions became so unbearable that Seager resigned from her position in March of 2023.
“In addition to discriminating against, harassing, and retaliating against Plaintiff, Defendant allows a continuing sexually discriminatory environment to exist despite multiple complaints about Director Wheeler and others in management,” the lawsuit alleges.
A hearing will be held in June.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 1:21 PM.