Via Shutterstock.A sergeant with the Metropolitan Police Department is facing sexual harassment charges for allegedly texting a picture of his penis to another worker, but in order to prove her case, the plaintiff wants him to recreate the offending photo for point of comparison.
Laverne Battle filed a lawsuit against D.C. and Sergeant Kevin Pope, her direct MPD supervisor, for sexual harassment, alleging that he texted her a picture “of his left hand holding his penis” in June of 2010. For the lawsuit, Battle filed a copy of the offending photograph with her attorney arguing that the only way to prove it was Pope’s, uh, member is for him to recreate the picture as a point of comparison:
“For good cause, the court may order discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in [an] action.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). Plaintiff argues, and defendant does not contest, that a photograph of Sergeant Pope’s left hand and penis would be relevant because it would tend to disprove or prove a material fact in the case: whether Sergeant Pope sent the lewd picture message to plaintiff’s cell phone and contributed to the allegedly sexually hostile work environment at the Metropolitan Police Department.
But Pope feels that to do such a thing would be “unjustifiably dehumanizing and embarrassing” for him, even though ruling judge, U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle, says that only she would review the picture for comparison in her chambers. “The requirement that Sergeant Pope produce the requested photograph is alone dehumanizing and embarrassing, notwithstanding whether the photograph is ever presented to a jury,” the opinion states.
Although the original picture makes it hard to identify the body the penis is attached to, Battle says that “there is a strikingly close resemblance between Sgt. Pope’s left thumb and forefinger and the same body parts depicted.”
In the end, Huvelle sided with the plaintiff in part, finding that, although the original photograph is “grainy” and “poorly-lit,” thus making her “skeptical of plaintiff’s confidence that a photograph of Sergeant Pope’s penis would be of any comparative value.” She ruled that Pope will only have to recreate the “left thumb” and “forefinger” part of the picture. However, Huvelle also ruled that “the Court will also hold in abeyance any ruling on plaintiff’s motion to compel Sergeant Pope to produce a photograph of his penis.”
You can read the full court statement below.
