A former Prince George’s County police internal affairs officer has filed a federal lawsuit against her union, after she claimed an attorney for the union prevented her from going after the department on her own for what she called “a case of retaliation against her.”
With the goal of clearing her name, former Lt. Sonya Zollicoffer said she is suing the union and a police officer from another department that recommended she be let go.
“Let me tell you, I sat in my car plenty of times crying. … Why me?” Zollicoffer told WTOP.
Zollicoffer, who is Black, claims the case stems from a 2017 investigation she did, during which she recommended charges against two white police officers she believed both profiled and used excessive force on a man during a traffic stop.
She claimed after her recommendation, the case was reassigned and Zollicoffer was promoted out of the internal affairs division. Once in a new area of the department, Zollicoffer said she discovered the dash camera video evidence she used to support her case against the officers was different.
“I looked at my own copy, and then I realized seven minutes is missing,” she said.
At this point, she said, from her new position, she pushed for the original video to be located and it ultimately resulted in her being reprimanded by a panel of officers, demoted and later recommended for dismissal by an officer with another department who investigated her alleged actions.
The two officers she investigated were later cleared.
The Prince George’s County Police Department declined to comment on pending litigation, they said in an email to WTOP.
Zollicoffer said she was essentially forced to retire in 2021, to avoid a drop in her pension payouts. She would then begin to challenge what happened to her in court.
While fighting the case, Zollicoffer said she joined a class action discrimination lawsuit against the department by some Black and brown officers, and settling that case resulted in her being unable to file a suit against the department for her matter.
“That attorney (the union attorney) had a duty to inform her of the rights that she would immediately lose,” said Zollicoffer’s attorney, Jordan Howlette.
In her lawsuit, Zollicoffer also claimed the union would assign her legal counsel who also represented the two officers she had been investigating.
“On multiple occasions, Ms. Zollicoffer informed Defendant FOP that she objected to the representation because of the direct conflict,” the lawsuit states.
WTOP reached out to FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Lodge 89 and it declined to comment on the case.
Howlette said being unable to go after the department — his hope in this case — if successful, could result in the clearing of Zollicoffer’s name.
“The entire thing, the entire negative effect on her personnel record, we’re seeking that all be abated and taken out of her personnel records,” he said.
For Zollicoffer, she said fighting this is about restoring her reputation.
“I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Zollicoffer said.
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