Detective Sues St. Louis Police for Gender Discrimination

Taylor Hosna says a supervisor retaliated when she complained about sexist behavior

Jun 29, 2023 at 3:07 pm

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HARLAN MCCARTHY

A lawsuit filed in St. Louis Circuit Court today accuses the St. Louis Police of discriminating against a female detective.

A city detective filed suit today against the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department alleging that a supervisor told her to take her clothes off and then retaliated against her when she complained about the behavior.

The lawsuit was filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court by detective Taylor Hosna, who is gay, and who is one of only two gay detectives in the department's juvenile division, according to her lawsuit.

In the suit, Hosna says that she and another female detective got into an argument while on the job last year in May. Her supervisor, Sergeant Kevin Bentley, allegedly told the two women, "If you’re going to fight, take your clothes off.”

The following month, Hosna filed a formal complaint against Bentley over the comment.

Two days after Hosna made that complaint, her lawsuit says that Bentley assigned her and the only other gay detective in the juvenile division to work the PrideFest Parade. Two other detectives had been assigned to work the event, but Bentley allegedly took them off that detail and gave the work to Bentley, despite her having taken that day off. Taylor alleges this was in retaliation for the complaint she filed against him.

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Hosna alleges that later on that summer, when she took time off for medical leave, Bentley still scheduled her for work. Furthermore, according to Taylor's suit, when she did come in to complete paperwork for a case, she was denied the overtime pay she says she was due for working while on FMLA-authorized leave.

By the end of August, the suit says Hosna had no choice but to transfer out of her position in the juvenile division, "a job which she enjoyed and found fulfilling." She says she filed a separate complaint with Internal Affairs, but it was never followed up on.

Taylor's suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages, as well as to have Bentley removed from his supervisor role in of the police's Juvenile Division.