Ex-Bonner jailer claims age bias

A former jail lieutenant is suing the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department for alleged age discrimination.

David Hancock also alleges in the lawsuit, filed in federal court Friday, that he was fired in retaliation for going to supervisors with complaints about harassment and corruption.

Sandpoint attorney Todd Reed said Hancock told management that some employees were being harassed by others in the department, which led to a hostile work environment.

Bonner County Sheriff Elaine Savage said she couldn’t comment on pending litigation.

In the suit, Hancock characterized the department’s management style as “aggressive” and said “people were arbitrarily subjected to either being disciplined and/or terminated.”

“He followed the rules by relaying those complaints up the chain,” Reed said. He said Hancock’s concerns “were not responded to appropriately by the administration.”

Hancock, who is in his late 60s, said in the suit that he applied for and was granted medical leave so he could undergo surgery in February 2005. He alleged that John Valdez, who was recently demoted from lieutenant to sergeant, told him, “You old guys should go away and leave room for younger ones.”

As he was preparing to return to work in April 2005, Hancock said Savage told him she planned to restructure the department and eliminate his position. He said that while he was gone, however, Valdez was given his job.

Hancock alleges that he returned to work to find he had been locked out of his file cabinet. Valdez allegedly told him, “Your files are now my files. I’ve got the key if you want something,” according to the complaint.

Hancock also said Valdez asked him why he wouldn’t take a transport officer position that Savage had offered him. According to the suit, the position paid less and didn’t include medical benefits.

Hancock said in the suit that he was terminated by Savage soon after. The suit alleges Savage cited “budgetary constraints” as the reason for eliminating Hancock’s position.

In recent months, a handful of former employees have leveled allegations of harassment and corruption against the department.

Valdez was charged last fall with disturbing the peace for allegedly threatening a jail deputy. He pleaded guilty to the charge in May and was given a year’s probation and ordered to take anger management classes.

He was placed on administrative leave, and an internal investigation was conducted. Last month he returned to work with a demotion.

In a recent interview, Savage said she couldn’t comment on the investigation but said she was proud of her department.

Former deputy John Lunde filed a tort claim against Bonner County in June, saying he was fired in retaliation for ticketing retired cops and telling supervisors that co-workers were watching movies during their shifts.

Lunde made several other allegations in the claim, including that officers allegedly had sex while on duty, used seized alcohol to stock their home bars, attempted to steal hubcaps off a state patrol car and falsified a grant application.

Another former deputy, Matt Hathaway, wrote in his resignation letter that he was ordered not to issue more than one ticket a day and told to have an affair to occupy his time during his shift.

Hathaway has since been hired by the Spirit Lake Police Department.

According to Hancock’s lawsuit, he was hired by Bonner County in 1999 as a detention deputy in the county courthouse and worked his way up to detention commander at the Bonner County Jail.

The suit says he received one job evaluation while employed with the county and that it was “very favorable.”