Trooper alleges gender discrimination

BILLINGS – A Montana Highway Patrol trooper is alleging that she lost her sergeant’s stripes because of gender discrimination at the state agency.

Sherrie Murphy said in a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau that she was “targeted, criticized and disciplined” by Highway Patrol troopers and supervisors because of her gender.

The state Department of Justice says that the allegations are unproven.

A state hearings officer in Helena will take testimony in March into the discrimination complaint filed with the Montana Human Rights Bureau.

Murphy says supervisors launched a “relentless quest” to find fault with her work, according to a copy of the complaint received by The Billings Gazette.

Murphy also alleges that the Highway Patrol is dominated by men with a practice of discriminating against the few female troopers on the force.

Murphy is seeking reinstatement as a sergeant and back wages and benefits. In her complaint, she said that only one woman is among the 30 highest ranking officers. And out of roughly 170 patrol officers, only 10 are female.

Her complaint was first investigated earlier this year, but was dismissed by an investigator who determined that Murphy had waited too long to file it. The Human Rights Commission overturned that decision, saying the state investigator failed to properly analyze the case.