Ex-Independence police officer sues, claims he was harassed after using sick days
A lawsuit filed by a former Independence police officer alleges that several other officers at the Independence Police Department acted against him in increasingly discriminatory ways after an extended sick leave, ending in what he alleges was a wrongful termination.
Grant DelaCruz, 28, worked for the Independence Police Department for about four years before he was fired in May 2024. DelaCruz was placed on a performance improvement plan about six months prior to the dismissal. In the lawsuit, he alleges that his firing was based on fictitious complaints, and that he had faced a hostile work environment for more than a year before starting on the PIP.
The lawsuit mentions several other IPD officers but only names the department at large as a plaintiff. Other involved officers are delineated in the court documents by their initials and rank and allegedly included a captain, a sergeant and an interim chief.
In a video IPD posted to social media in November 2021, DelaCruz shared that he joined the department after realizing that a traditional 9-5 work schedule was a poor fit for his personality.
“I was looking for something more challenging and unique,” DelaCruz can be seen saying.
DelaCruz alleges his experience at work changed radically after the death of Daniel Vasquez, a North Kansas City police officer who was fatally shot during a traffic stop in July 2022. Vasquez was a friend of both DelaCruz and his significant other, the lawsuit reads, who also worked for the North Kansas City Police Department and was on the scene when Vasquez was shot.
After Vasquez’s death, DelaCruz’s partner was given leave to recover, and DelaCruz allegedly took several sick days to be with her, according to the lawsuit. This led to a critical argument between DelaCruz and a superior officer, the lawsuit alleges, who accused him of abusing sick leave during a “heated” discussion.
According to the city of Independence, employees earn 96 hours of sick leave per year.
DelaCruz alleges that after the argument, the captain stopped offering DelaCruz overtime opportunities at the same rates as other officers and began bad-mouthing him around IPD headquarters as “lazy, worthless and not a hard worker.” The lawsuit specifically accuses the department of illegal retaliation.
DelaCruz also alleges that after being assigned to work under a new sergeant in 2022, he brought up the dynamic to his new supervisor and was told that the treatment was both noticeable and personal.
“Because it’s you,” the sergeant allegedly said when asked to explain.
DelaCruz alleges that the captain’s vendetta increased over time to include false accusations of misconduct and demands for additional paperwork and documentation. This included chastising him and assigning what DelaCruz described as punitive extra work during a response to a house fire in 2023 and a response to an overdose in 2024.
IPD hired DelaCruz in August 2020 after he graduated from the police academy, according to city employment records. Before becoming a police officer, DelaCruz worked in engineering at Kansas City firm Burns & McDonnell, he shared in an IPD social media post in 2021.
DelaCruz, who is Hispanic, is also alleging that his ethnicity played a factor in the discriminatory treatment at IPD. After his relationship with the captain began to falter, DelaCruz alleges, he was scrutinized or disciplined for practices that white employees engaged in regularly, such as providing a direct phone number to local stores for loss prevention calls.
The disparaging comments he recounted in the lawsuit included digs at his looks and demeanor, including one instance where DelaCruz alleges another officer said publicly that he “look[ed] like a child molester.”
“People get put away for life for looking like you,” the other officer allegedly said.
The insults and interactions allegedly peaked in the spring of 2023, the lawsuit reads, when DelaCruz was allegedly disciplined, suspended and denied a promotion over expired license plates. Around the same time, DelaCruz was recognized by the Independence Chamber of Commerce with a “Heroism Award” for “evidencing the quality of unselfish courage.”
DelaCruz alleges he was given conflicting information about due dates for traffic reports, leading to an altercation in May 2023 when the captain yelled at him and questioned his knowledge of department policies.
In August 2023, the department allegedly declined to open an internal investigation when a sex toy was found glued to the back of DelaCruz’s police car.
When DelaCruz was fired in May 2024 after several months on the performance improvement plan, a colleague allegedly told him that his diminished reputation had played a role.
“Plaintiff’s supervisors allegedly lost confidence in Plaintiff’s ability to do his job,” the lawsuit reads.
The Star has reached out to DelaCruz and his attorneys, neither of whom were available for comment. IPD declined to discuss pending litigation.
After his dismissal from IPD, DelaCruz appears to have resumed working for Burns & McDonnell, according to his LinkedIn profile.
DelaCruz is the third current or former IPD employee to file a discrimination lawsuit against the department since last May, according to court records.
Detective Loran Freeman sued the department in May 2024 over a salary and retirement benefits dispute. And Officer Laurie Garland sued earlier that month over wrongful termination and increasingly discriminatory conduct, which she alleges is related to her having testified against now-Chief Adam Dustman during his appointment hearing.
A case management conference regarding DelaCruz’s lawsuit has been scheduled for September 10 at 8:30 a.m., according to court records.
