HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-23 Euless ArticlesEuless Police Officer Sues City for Sexual
Discrimination
A Euless police officer is suing the city for sexual discrimination and
retaliation.
Kimberly Parker claims that she was passed over numerous times for a
promotion within the department.
The lawsuit details that Parker started working for the department in April
1993 as a reserve officer then was promoted to a full-time officer in July.
The lawsuit goes on to state, "After Parker completed her field training, Chief
Gary McKamie and Capt. Harland Westmoreland had a meeting with Parker
in which McKamie told her that he knew there would be problems with men
and women working together, asked about her marital status, and told her it
would be in her best interest to get married."
The lawsuit also states in 1998 Parker applied for a position on the DEA Task
Force. Personnel from the DEA did the interviews and ultimately Parker was
hired for the position. However Parker alleges that Chief McKamie made a
comment to her that “if it was up to him, he would never send a female to a
drug force, especially a mother.”
Two years later, Parker transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department
where she worked from 2000 until 2008 when she became a Senior Corporal
in patrol. Parker claims that there were also two open Senior Corporal
positions within the CID department and that she would have rather stayed in
the same department, instead of going back to patrol. The lawsuit claims that
Sergeant Gary Landers, who was over CID at the time, requested a male
officer take the Corporal test. The lawsuit goes on to say that the officer
declined, telling Landers that he had much less experience than Parker. The
lawsuit then details Landers telling the male officer "you are going to be one
of my Senior Corporals,” and Parker says that is exactly what happened.
Parker then served one year in the patrol division and was assigned to the
community service division. Sergeant Landers then became Captain over
the community service division. At that time, two Sergeant positions were
open. Parker says she tested for the Sergeant positions and ranked
second out of four people on the objective written test. Parker then claims
that she dropped to fourth rank after the oral examinations were done.
Parker says she ask a member of the testing committee what happened
and that he told her that “Euless is not ready for you or any woman to be a
Sergeant.”
Parker filed a discrimination and retaliation charge with the EEOC in
December 2014, clearing the way for a lawsuit.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that Chief Gary McKamie was the
Euless Chief of Police from 1993 until 1999. He was then named Deputy City
Manager. He retired from the city in 2015.
NBC 5 has reached out to the City of Euless and the Euless Police
Department for comment about the lawsuit, but so far neither have
responded.
John Goff Buys
Aerospace Company
Omega Research Inc.
As part of this acquisition, Omega Research Inc. has also relocated to a larger,
purpose-built facility in Euless.
Fort Worth-based Goff Capital, headed by billionaire businessman John Goff,
acquired the aerospace-focused engineering, consulting, and testing laboratory that
specializes in hydrogen embrittlement. As part of this acquisition, Omega Research
Inc. has also relocated to a larger, purpose-built facility in Euless.
Omega, which calls itself the world’s largest hydrogen embrittlement testing
laboratory, was founded in 1984 by engineer W. Craig Willian, who will remain
with the company.
“I am pleased to be part of a company transition to new and energetic individuals
guided by the business acumen of John Goff. John brings a rich history of investing
in established technologies while at the same time nurturing the development of
new ideas,” Willan said in a statement.
Additional terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“As the aerospace super-cycle continues to attract investors, our priorities remain
uniqueness of capability, criticality of function and premier quality. Omega
Research has all these traits alongside an impressive roster of customer
relationships from small, privately-owned plating houses to the largest of [original
equipment manufacturers],” Goff said in a statement.