Detective wins $4.7 million discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against KCPD
A police detective who sued the Kansas City Police Department was awarded over $4 million after a Jackson County jury found the department discriminated and retaliated against him due to his medical conditions.
The 10-day trial ended July 3, after around two and a half hours of jury deliberation.
Detective Zachary Storms initially filed the lawsuit against the department in January 2023, after having worked for the police department since 2007.
In 2017, Storms had a seizure as a passenger in an unmarked police vehicle during work hours, according to court documents. Under the order of University of Kansas Hospital neurologist Dr. Utku Uysal, Storms was subsequently placed on limited duty for one year.
In February 2019, Storms had another seizure and crashed an unmarked department vehicle. Storms was again placed on limited duty.
Storms’ seizures were caused by a brain tumor, and he had the tumor removed in October 2019. After surgery and recovery, Uysal recommended in early 2020 that Storms be released to full duty.
However, the department requested that Storms be evaluated by its own doctor at Meritas Health Occupational Medicine. The Meritas Health doctor said Storms could not return to full duty for one to ten years. The doctor was a general practitioner and not a neurologist.
Storms was then evaluated by two other neurosurgeons at the University of Kansas Hospital who said that he could return to work with no restrictions. However, Storms remained on limited duty.
In June 2020, Storms learned that the department Deputy Chief Shawn Wadle and the Board of Police Commissioners sought to medically retire him. Upon hearing this, Storms complained to department management, human resources and the worker’s compensation division that he was being mistreated and targeted due to his medical condition.
He also believed he was targeted due to a previous request he made for worker’s compensation following his February 2019 accident.
After this, Katie Dumit, an HR supervisor who handles the department’s worker’s compensation claims, told Capt. Darrel Bergquist, then-Maj. Stacey Graves and Wadle that Storms should be returned to full duty based on the medical clearance from the KU doctors. However, Graves and Wadle disagreed and took Dumit off Storms’ case, according to court documents.
Bergquist took over Storms’ worker’s compensation and disability claim and recommended that he be returned to full duty and have driving restrictions for a year, the documents say. Dumit told The Star that she was the one who suggested the driving restrictions as a compromise. Court records state Wadle and Graves disagreed with this, too, and did not take the recommendations.
The records state the department told Storms he could not be returned to full duty yet because of “conflicting medical opinions” and the need for more information from Storms’ doctors. Storms’ doctors had had multiple correspondences with the department by this time.
In 2021, Storms was released to limited duty for longer than one year with no medical retirement. Storms continued to complain because he felt he was being mistreated and targeted. The department then made plans to terminate him, and Storms believed this was because of his complaints.
Storms sought damages for disability discrimination and retaliation, alleging that he was frequently stressed out, lost sleep, could not focus and feared for what else could have happened to him.
Sgt. Phillip DiMartino, a KCPD spokesperson, wrote in a statement, “Generally, we do not comment on pending litigation in the interest of fairness to all parties involved.”
$4.7 million verdict
The jury ruled in favor of Storms for both the discrimination and retaliation charges. The Jury awarded $105,427 for past economic losses and $1,054,270 for non-economic losses, like emotional suffering. It awarded $3,542,700 for punitive damages.
These numbers have something in common: they all include Storms’ badge number, which is 5427, according to Gerald Gray, one of the attorneys who represented Storms.
Gray said roughly 15 people testified throughout the trial. This included doctors, current police officers, another attorney and former department employees.
Gray said this was a difficult case to argue with a lot of work, but he was very pleased with the outcome.
“It just, you know, was very rewarding to see that the jury felt that, you know, they believed in our case,” Gray said. “It was a huge blessing.”
He also said Storms and his family are very grateful for the verdict and Storms is looking forward to getting back to work full-time.
Bergquist, the captain who testified during the trial, also has a pending lawsuit against KCPD. The parties are currently in the process of a settlement.
Editor’s note: This story was changed on July 13 after it was initially published on July 10 to reflect that Dumit was an HR supervisor, not a manager, and to include that Dumit says she suggested Storms be given one year of driving restrictions when restored to full duty.
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM.
