Scott Bruton, an officer with the Redmond Police Department (RPD), has filed a $1 million claim against the City of Redmond.

The claim was filed on April 24 and according to court documents obtained by the Redmond Reporter through a public records request, Bruton experienced “severe emotional distress” and “humiliation” as a result of the “sexual harassment, discrimination, disparate treatment and hostile work environment” he has been subjected to since May 2009.

When asked for a comment, City of Redmond chief policy adviser and communications and marketing administrator Jeri Rowe-Curtis said they are not able to provide an interview or commentary at this moment out of respect for the litigation and personnel processes and persons involved.

In one specific incident in October 2009, Bruton and his fiancee — now his wife — traveled to Leavenworth, Wash. to celebrate Oktoberfest. According to court documents, the couple ran into former Lt. Glenn Rotton, Lt. (now commander) Erik Scairpon and officers Jamin Palmer and Jesse Bollerud of the RPD. At one point, Bruton and Rotton left the group to get a drink. The two discussed Bruton’s upcoming marriage and the nervousness he felt, according to court documents. The documents go on to state that Rotton questioned Bruton’s sexuality and sexual preference and asked Bruton if he had “ever thought about being with a guy.”

“(Bruton) answered, ‘No. I am attracted only to women,’” court documents state, adding that he felt “extremely uncomfortable and trapped by a potential supervisor.”

Rotton continued the line of questioning, according to documents, asking Bruton if he had “ever considered having a threesome.” He also revealed to Bruton that he was gay and court documents state, “it was obvious that Rotton was ‘hitting on’ (Bruton).”

Bruton, who began working at the RPD in May 2008, was still a new officer in the department and afraid to tell anyone in the group, but did confide in his wife, documents state.

Once Bruton and Rotton rejoined the group, Rotton asked Bruton to show him his abs a number of times, according to court documents. When Bruton did not comply, the documents state that Rotton reached up Bruton’s shirt and “rubbed his stomach in a highly sexually suggestive manner and when (Bruton) pushed Rotton’s hands away, Rotton purposely grazed  (Bruton’s) crotch area while pulling his hands away.”

Rotton’s attempts to touch Bruton continued despite Bruton and his wife telling Rotton to stop, according to documents.

Bruton did not report these events because he was still new in the department with no friends or support structure and worried about retaliation and was embarrassed, documents state.

Following the Leavenworth incident, Bruton tried to avoid Rotton but couldn’t. According to court documents, Rotton continued to flirt with him and commented on his appearance. During a shooter training session, Bruton struggled with some maneuvers and documents state that Rotton — who had become Bruton’s immediate supervisor — said in front of several witnesses that Bruton “made up for it by being pretty.”

Such comments and behavior from Rotton continued and Bruton reported everything to Cmdr. T. Conroy in early spring 2012, according to documents. Conroy told Bruton that this was not the first time Rotton had acted this way with RPD’s male staff, documents state.

Bruton met with Cmdr. (now assistant police chief) Kristi Wilson on April 13, 2012 about his complaints, including the Leavenworth incident, and according to court documents, Wilson “literally inquired no further.” Court documents state that Bruton was never questioned again during or about the internal investigation on Rotton, who was put on administrative leave shortly thereafter.

Bruton also informed his superior Lt. Ron Harding about a sexual assault and battery he had learned Rotton had allegedly committed, according to documents. The documents go on to state that Harding told Bruton he had informed Wilson of the possible crime Rotton had committed.

According to documents, Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson spoke with Bruton’s squad regarding Rotton and requested they refrain from “‘talking about what happened’ and that Rotton was coming back as an officer on day shift.”

“Gibson admitted to (Bruton) that Wilson omitted all information regarding the sexual assault and battery information that Bruton gave to the department back in the spring of 2012,” said Bob Kim, a Covington attorney who is representing Bruton. “What Wilson did is a terminable offense and could easily get her fired, decommissioned.”

Kim said the investigation was not done properly and deprived Bruton of his “administrative due process rights to have his complaint investigated properly and thoroughly.”

“With the admission of an incomplete investigation, taken with other facts…the department did not fully mitigated Scott’s sexual harassment complaint, which has caused enormous emotional and mental distress and anguish,” Kim said.

According to court documents, Rotton “abruptly ‘resigned’ on August 15, 2012. Rotton’s past had finally caught up with him that he could no longer ignore or hide.”