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Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Assistant Alleges in Lawsuit She Was Faced with Discrimination and Retaliation on the Basis of Gender and Medicine in 2016 After She Was Injured in an After Hours Car Crash work and then asked for a work arrangement.
Rachel Weber, deputy to the department since 2008, said in her complaint that she developed a “complex regional pain syndrome” as a result of the accident, which she said damaged her neck.
Santa Fe County and the county commission were named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed in district court Friday.
After receiving medical clearance to return to work with temporary accommodations, including light work and a fitted protective vest, then sheriff Robert Garcia denied the request, according to the lawsuit.
“Deputy Weber was not allowed to return to work and was essentially ignored despite leaving daily messages asking her to be contacted regarding a return to work,” the lawsuit said.
Weber was fired from the sheriff’s office soon after. She appealed her dismissal in February 2017, but alleges in the lawsuit that she was never compensated for the months she was not allowed to work.
After returning to work, the complaint alleges that she faced a hostile environment and was denied the opportunity to perform work that would not require her to wear a protective vest, such as criminal investigations.
Weber also claims she was forced to work overtime without compensation and received her first negative performance review, among other issues.
She has since worked at the First Judicial District courthouse and as a patrol officer.
Weber has filed two discrimination complaints against the sheriff’s office with the New Mexico Office of Human Rights since 2016, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses the county of violating New Mexico human rights law, the whistleblower protection law and the taxpayer fraud law. Weber seeks compensatory damages as well as double the lost wages for the forced leave.
Linda Hemphill, Weber’s lawyer, said the case is one of many her office has advocated for women in law enforcement.
Most female officers, she added, face an “uphill battle” over equal treatment.
“The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office needs to look at how it has treated women and how it has handled accommodation requests,” Hemphill said. “Rachel’s case is about discrimination based on sex, but it’s also about serious discrimination related to health issues and the provision of respite for people.”
The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the matter. County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart also declined to comment.
Weber is one of eight women who work in the sheriff’s office, according to the lawsuit.
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