Missouri Supreme Court Tosses Officer’s $7.5M Harassment Award on Technicality

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The Missouri Supreme Court has thrown out a $7.5 million judgment to a former St. Louis police officer who claimed her supervisor sexually harassed her, and that her complaints about the harassment resulted in retaliation.

The ruling sent the case back to the trial court. The state Supreme Court cited instructional errors that could have been misleading or confusing for jurors.

A St. Louis jury in 2014 ruled in favor of Tanisha Ross-Paige, awarding $300,000 in compensatory damages and $7.2 million in punitive damages. Her suit named the police department, the police board, Sgt. Steven Gori and others.

Jeremy Hollingshead, an attorney for Ross-Paige, said the verdict was overturned on a technicality. In fact, he said he expects an even larger award when the case is re-tried.

“This is a case where the allegations were so outrageous, so egregious, that the jury was going to come back with the verdict they did, no matter what,” Hollingshead said.

Deputy City Counselor Nancy Kistler said lawyers for the city were still reviewing the ruling and “will be ready to retry” the case.

The lawsuit alleged that Gori made and distributed a mock “wanted” poster with comments about Ross-Paige’s body, along with her picture. It alleged that Gori asked Ross-Paige, who was married at the time, to sit on his lap, to take off her bullet-resistant vest so he could “see what (she is) working with,” and to join him in skinny-dipping in his hot tub.

Ross-Paige, now 43, filed a complaint with the department in June 2011. After that, she alleged in the suit, Gori and a lieutenant gave her unfavorable shifts, denied time off requests and evaluated her differently.

Gori and police denied wrongdoing.

Ross-Paige joined the police department in 2005 and the canine unit in 2008. She was injured by another officer’s dog in January 2012 and became permanently unable to pass the police physical duty test. But Hollingshead said the department has refused to pay disability.