Police Officer Sonya Glover has been awarded $80,000 in a settlement from the city after claiming she was wrongfully brought up on departmental charges. Glover says she was wrongfully accused of attacking a friend during a game of Scrabble, and was forced into relationship counseling because her department assumed she and her friend were romantically involved.
Glover and a friend were playing Scrabble one night in February of 2008. The game allegedly turned violent when Glover began mocking her friend's spelling and accusing her of making up words. A child in the house eventually called 911, saying, "My mom's friend is beating her." Cops arrived, and court papers say they described the dispute as "involving lesbians" and "some gay thing." There was no evidence that either women were hurt or that they were romantically involved. Glover was not arrested.
However, she was brought up on departmental charges. She had to attend eight weeks of domestic abuse counseling, and says she was forced to clean men's bathrooms and that the sergeant mocked her voice as masculine. Her lawyer said, "Although Officer Glover is content with the outcome, she is saddened that the department continues to reject diversity in the ranks to the detriment of the citizens it serves."
