NASHVILLE, Tenn. — *Warning: Some details in this report are graphic*
The officer at the center of the La Vergne police sex scandal has filed a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint against the city for having a sexually hostile work environment.
The new documents WSMV, a sister station with WBIR in Nashville, got through a records request show the treatment Officer Maegan Hall said she dealt with at the La Vergne Police Department that led her to eventually begin sexual relationships with multiple other officers.
Six La Vergne Police officers have now been fired, including Chief Chip Davis, after an investigation found officers were having sex with each other — some while on duty and on city property.
After she was fired, Hall filed the EEOC complaint claiming other officers used their supervisor positions to groom her and then performed sexual acts without her consent.
Hall said the discrimination started as far back as March 2022 and was encouraged by Chief Davis.
In the complaint, Hall said Davis asked her to dance for him in his office, asked her sexually suggestive questions about race and refer to her clothing as “hot girl summer (expletive).”
A third-party investigative report shows Chief Davis asked for and was sent nude photos and videos believed to be Hall on his burner phone starting in October 2022. Davis responded to a text with the images, “It hard to look at her and not say, you know, I know! Lol.”
Sgt. Ty McGowan, who sent the images, replied, “she’s definitely got it.”
Hall said in the complaint McGowan repeatedly begged her to, “please use me for sex.” That’s something McGowan fully denied in an interview as part of the investigation.
But the third-party investigation said both McGowan and Davis violated city policy and even possibly broke federal law by not reporting the sexual misconduct. It said, “the volume of pornographic material passing through the chief’s personal phones should have put any reasonable supervisor on notice that the risk of a sexually hostile work environment in the department was unacceptably high.”
In an interview during the initial investigation, Hall told the La Vergne HR director about other officers provoking sexual acts. That’s something she’s outlined in her complaint filing. Hall said there were only six female officers at the department that were, “treated as sexual objects and targets for verbal and physical harassment.”
La Vergne Mayor Jason Cole was the first one to report the sexual misconduct to the city’s HR department, according to the report. He said this scandal that’s made national headlines have left a stain on his city and it will take time to rebuild the department and change its culture of sexual misconduct.
“I think as a whole the city is disappointed with the situation,” Cole said. “The police department is held to a higher standard, and so I don’t think it falls on any one member of this (Mayor and Alderman) board. I think we need to make sure we are setting policies and procedures that lift our city and our officers up and give them the tools they need to do what they are supposed to do. As well as the training so they are aware of what’s allowable and what’s not, what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate.”
Cole said the city is working to review the sexual harassment complaint by Hall and will take the necessary steps to correct the issues. The city is currently in the process of retraining all employees on its policies and guidelines.