LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Metro Police Department is facing a new lawsuit from husband and wife officers Maj. Shannon Lauder and Lt. Jeffrey Lauder, who say LMPD leadership failed to respond to the couple’s allegations of sexual harassment against other officers, breached department protocols and damaged their careers.

The lawsuit names LMPD, former police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, Sergeant Lauren Carby, Detective Brian Kuriger, Major Mindy Vance and Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, as defendants in the case.

Spectrum News 1 spoke with Greenberg at a separate event on July 30 about the new lawsuit. He said, “When we learned about allegations of sexual harassment, we have addressed them with the seriousness that they deserve. With the seriousness that all allegations of sexual harassment deserve. We have several investigations going on right now to get to the bottom of what has been going on at LMPD across our city and to find the truth and so we need to let those investigations play out. And as they are and as they do, as they are completed, we will release those results publicly because I think that’s important to know.”

The couple were named in a separate lawsuit last month filed by Carby, who alleged Shannon Lauder was “… grossly inappropriate in front of and toward officers under her command in workplace environments, including but not limited to in the SVU (Special Victims Unit) office spaces.” Carby’s lawsuit claimed Shannon Lauder shared sexually explicit details about her marriage to Jeff Lauder.

Carby also alleged the couple held a pool party on Aug. 1, 2020, where Jeff Lauder made unwanted advances toward her, even allegedly propositioning her for sex.

In the Lauders' lawsuit, they claim the Aug. 1 party was an “open house” to celebrate their accomplishments and another officer’s retirement. At the party, the lawsuit says, Carby confronted Jeff Lauder about rumors the Shannon Lauder had been having an affair. The couple said they told Carby her allegation was “entirely untrue” and urged her not to spread the rumor further.

Despite that, the rumor continued to spread, rapidly growing “more sexually explicit” and taking “a life of its own,” according to the lawsuit. Shannon Lauder claimed she later tried to address Carby directly, but to “no avail.”

By Dec. 2020, the lawsuit says the work environment for the Lauders had become “hostile” and the rumors were negatively affecting their work and their ability to lead their teams.

In the lawsuit, Shannon Lauder claims she was sexually harassed by Kuriger, the officer leading an investigation into the party at the Lauders' home. She says that Kuriger made comments about her body, stalked new recruits on social media and received lap dances from female recruits at training graduation parties.

The Lauders also claim they reported the sexual harassment and negative treatment they received because of the rumors of Shannon Lauder’s affair.

Shannon Lauder claims she informed Lt. Josh Judah and then-Interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry of the harassment she was facing, including “ongoing rumors of a sexual nature.” After Gentry stepped down as interim chief, Shannon Lauder said she had a meeting with the new police chief, Erika Shields, on March 19, 2021, in which Shields reprimanded her for the rumors. Shannon Lauder explained the rumors were not true, but Shields did not respond to her allegations of harassment, according to the lawsuit.

Shannon Lauder said she went directly to Gwinn-Villaroel in Feb. 2023 after she became the new LMPD chief and the chief allegedly said she did not “want to address Shannon’s complaints and informed Shannon that the entire situation frustrated her because it pre-dated her becoming Chief of LMPD and should have been addressed by her predecessors, but failed to offer to help or support Shannon,” according to the lawsuit.

Jeff Lauder also claims to have reported their mistreatment to Major Vance, who was then his supervisor with the Special Weapons and Tactics division of LMPD. Vance did not respond to his complaint, but Jeff Lauder claims he was later informed Vance questioned his leadership and “expressed disdain” for his wife.

In another set of allegations, the couple charge Vance repeatedly broke department policy and collective bargaining agreements during her internal investigation of the party at the Lauders' home and the subsequent rumors. Among their charges, they say Vance broke confidentiality agreements by using information she got during Peer Support Team meetings, which are for helping resolve conflict or help with trauma experienced by officers.

The lawsuit claims Shannon Lauder had written a memo to LMPD leadership in Nov. 2022, outlining what they said were breaches in protocols and failures to respond to their reports, which made its way to Greenberg’s office. They claim the mayor never responded to the memo or took action on it.

According to the lawsuit, LMPD leadership’s failure to respond is why Shannon Lauder spoke out against the promotion of Kuriger at a May 22, 2024 meeting.

“Prior to the command meeting, Shannon had been actively searching for a way to report Defendant Kuriger’s harassing conduct towards her but had not found an avenue to make such a report as she had been ordered by LMPD not to speak of anything involving either PSU (Professional Standards Unit) case pending against her,” the lawsuit says.

According to a June news conference with interim police chief Paul Humphrey, Kuriger was recently put on administrative leave.

The couple claim since the launch of the internal investigations against them, “both have been passed up for promotions for which they were the most qualified candidate.”

The lawsuit charges the defendants with an array of charges that includes retaliation against whistleblowers, discrimination, having a hostile work environment, negligence and statutory violations. The Lauders are seeking damages from the department, the sergeant, the police chief and the mayor, as well as a jury trial for all triable offenses. 

LMPD said in a statement that they take allegations seriously.

"LMPD takes seriously any allegations of sexual harassment or retaliation within the department and multiple investigations have been launched and are pending," the statement said. "These investigations are imperative given the conflicting narratives of the recently filed lawsuits alleging malfeasance and sexual misconduct. While LMPD cannot comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, we would like to reiterate that LMPD is committed to expedient, thorough and impartial investigations of all sexual misconduct allegations once claims are brought to our attention."

"On June 25, an enhanced multi-tiered approach was immediately implemented to strengthen LMPD's response to sexual harassment allegations. Those measures include clearly defining sexual harassment, streamlining the reporting of sexual harassment allegations, mandatory sexual harassment training at all levels, providing support systems for reporting parties and adopting new policies for preventing retaliation. LMPD remains committed to ensuring a culture of respect for all sworn and professional staff members and will not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind by its members." 

Gwinn-Villaroel was suspended by Greenberg on June 12 after concerns over how she handled a workplace sexual harassment allegation involving LMPD officers. Greenberg emphasized his decision was based on how Gwinn-Villaroel handled the situation once she learned about the harassment allegations. Greenberg announced on June 25 Gwinn-Villaroel had resigned from LMPD, but the former chief later revealed Greenberg asked her to resign.