Louisville police officer whose sexual harassment allegation prompted police chief’s resignation files lawsuit | Full story

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — In recent weeks, Maj. Shannon Lauder and her husband, Lt. Jeff Lauder, have been accused in a lawsuit of “totally inappropriate” behavior at an “adult pool party” last August and of appearing to make sexual comments and advances toward another officer, Lauren Carby.

An internal investigation into the party has now partially led to a lawsuit filed by the couple, alleging that Shannon Lauder was sexually harassed by Major Brian Kuriger, who was tasked with investigating the incident.

“Shannon was sexually harassed by Defendant Kuriger during the course of the investigation,” says the lawsuit filed Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court.

The handling of Shannon Lauder’s internal complaints against Kuriger prompted Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to call for the resignation of Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel last month because of the way the chief “handled an allegation of sexual harassment in the workplace.”

In the lawsuit against Carby, Kuriger, the city and the former police chief, the Lauders claim, among other things, that the pool party allegations are false and that they have been victims of harassment and a “hostile work environment” for years, in part because of rumors that Shannon Lauder had an affair with a subordinate.

In addition, Shannon Lauder claims she was sexually harassed by Kuriger, the male police officer who led the investigation into the alleged pool party, both before and during the investigation.

“This was not Shannon’s first encounter with Defendant Kuriger, as they had been colleagues in the past vying for similar positions and Shannon had been sexualized by him,” the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Kuriger made comments about Shannon Lauder’s body, stalked new recruits on social media and had female recruits give him lap dances at graduation ceremonies.

A lawyer for Kuriger was not immediately available for comment. The complaints in a court case represent only one side of a case. The police department does not normally discuss pending court cases.

In his role as pool party investigator, Kuriger is accused of withholding the presence of union representatives from the Lauders, failing to bring Shannon Lauder to a standstill, finishing sentences, failing to review social media posts that allegedly proved some complaints, and asking inappropriate questions.

The main reason for the chief’s resignation appears to be a May 22 command staff meeting to announce a series of promotions within the LMPD. Shannon Lauder had not yet reported the harassment to Gwinn-Villaroel because she was still “looking for ways to report the complaint confidentially,” according to an earlier statement from her attorney Jared Smith.

Lauder was sick and attended the meeting virtually, Smith said. According to an audio file of the meeting provided by Smith, Gwinn-Villaroel called each major and asked if there was anyone else on the team they couldn’t work with.

Gwinn-Villaroel: “Is there anyone in this command staff you cannot work with?”

Lauder: “Ma’am, I cannot work with (Maj. Brian Kuriger). He sexually harassed and assaulted me, and I cannot work with him.”

There was silence in the room for 21 seconds before Gwinn-Villaroel said “All clear” and called on the other majors. Shortly thereafter, she confirmed Kuriger’s promotion.

Gwinn-Villaroel: “Your next lieutenant colonel will be Brian Kuriger. … Maj. Lauder, I have heard your concerns and I understand that you cannot do this. That is why we need to talk about the current state of affairs.”

Lauder: “Yes, ma’am. I know now is not a good time to bring it up, but I didn’t want you to say later that I didn’t bring it up. So I’m sorry it had to come out this way.”

Gwinn-Villaroel: “I have heard your concern. Yes, ma’am.”

Following the meeting, Shannon Lauder was asked to write a memorandum detailing Kuriger’s harassment and submit the memo by the end of the following day, the lawsuit says.

Since then, the Lauders claim they have both been passed over for promotions and harassed by others in the department.

Greenberg suspended the chief on June 13, and Gwinn-Villaroel resigned at the chief’s urging on June 25.

The Lauders claim that rumors and harassment have been going on within the department for years and that their complaints have been ignored.

Shannon Lauder claimed she went directly to Gwinn-Villaroel in February 2023 and the chief allegedly said she “did not want to address Shannon’s complaints and told Shannon that the entire situation frustrated her as she had stepped in before she was inaugurated as Chief of the LMPD and should have been addressed by her predecessors, but she offered no help or support to Shannon,” the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit, Shannon Lauder claims she once spoke with LMPD leadership, including the former chief, and wrote them a letter citing “retaliation and unequal treatment” and numerous other violations of LMPD policy.

“Shannon’s letter made it to the mayor’s office… who took no action,” the lawsuit states.

Former boss Erica Shields heard the rumors about the Lauders and reportedly took it upon herself to “reprimand Shannon at a meeting on March 19, 2021.”

“Chief Shields advised Shannon that if she were ‘fatter and uglier,’ she would not have to deal with the harassment,” the lawsuit states. Shields eventually apologized, the lawsuit states.

Shannon Lauder recently felt compelled to speak “more publicly” about the treatment.

WAVE 3 News had a report scheduled to air the day the mayor suspended the police chief that included an audio recording of the police chief’s meeting with her command staff.

The lawsuit also alleges that Carby lied about the “adult pool party.” According to the Lauders, it was actually an “open house” with about 20 friends, neighbors and coworkers to celebrate their recent professional accomplishments and the retirement of a colleague.

According to the lawsuit, Carby was the aggressor who confronted Jeff Lauder about her suspicion that Shannon Lauder was having an affair with one of the officers under her command. Both Lauders claim they told Carby the rumor was not true.

Carby alleged in a lawsuit filed on June 20 that Shannon Lauder and her husband were guilty of sexual abuse. The two spoke openly about their extramarital affairs and Shannon Lauder told her to come back to the pool party when she tried to leave due to her husband’s advances.

When Carby returned to the Lauders’ house, Jeff Lauder was waiting for her, according to her lawsuit. He led her upstairs, where Shannon Lauder was sitting on a couch, “very drunk and searching for” a detective she had kissed earlier at the party.

According to Carby’s lawsuit, Shannon Lauder allegedly told Carby that she had “her blessing to enter into a relationship with Jeff.”

When Shannon Lauder left the room, Jeff Lauder tried to kiss Carby, her lawsuit alleges. Carby pushed him away and left the house.

But in Lauder’s version of events, Shannon Lauder only spoke to Carby “to clarify the matter and dispel the rumor” that she was having an affair. But the rumor “spread like wildfire” in the department, according to Lauder’s lawsuit.

Carby’s lawyer Sara Collins said in a statement that the Lauders’ allegations were “nonsensical.”

“The LMPD has a history of covering up misconduct by high-ranking members, including sexual harassment and other misconduct by Maj. Shannon Lauder and Lt. Jeff Lauder. The Lauders’ recent efforts to portray themselves as victims are unfounded.”

Also named as a defendant in the Lauder lawsuit is Maj. Mindy Vance, the head of the department’s peer support team.

Vance learned of Carby’s allegations during a peer support meeting and encouraged Carby to report the alleged contact from the Lauders. When she refused, Vance contacted the head of LMPD’s internal investigations unit and reported the alleged harassment and misconduct, which sparked an investigation.

But in 2023, after most of the investigative interviews were completed, the River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614 filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that the investigation violated the collective bargaining agreement because the complaint was based on private information discussed as part of the peer support process.

A Jefferson Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order in April halting the investigation. Carby then filed his own complaint, and the investigation is ongoing.

The Lauders claim that Vance had long-standing problems with the couple and used the support group to spread rumors about the pool party and pressured Carby to file a complaint.

This is the third sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the LMPD within a matter of weeks.

On June 18, officer Christine Silk claimed she was sexually harassed by two male supervisors during her first year on the job, one of whom sent her a picture of his penis.

Officer Silk claims she was touched inappropriately, asked in front of other officers if she needed to “prostitute herself for child care,” sent inappropriate text messages, asked to hug a supervisor who had an erection, and asked by the same officer to read her sexual fantasies he had written about her, among other allegations.

Silk, Carby and the Lauders argue in their lawsuits that LMPD has a disturbing internal culture in which widespread patterns of harassment, sexual misconduct, predatory behavior and discrimination by members are repeatedly excused, ignored, concealed, promoted and justified.

All point to the fact that the Department of Justice has found that the LMPD does not properly investigate allegations of sexual misconduct within the agency.

Retired FBI agent David Beyer is leading an independent investigation into the chief’s handling of Shannon Lauder’s allegation. A separate, independent investigation will look into the harassment allegation itself. Beyer previously investigated allegations of sexual harassment at Metro Corrections and TARC at the request of the City Council.

Paul Humphrey leads the department in the role of “interim chief.” Humphrey joined the LMPD in 2006 and spent several years as an officer in the 1st and 6th Divisions in the Newburg and Russell neighborhoods. He joined the SWAT team in 2010 and became its commander in 2017.

This story will be updated.

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