St Louis Police Sue After ‘Chief Told Her to Lose 13 Pounds While Six Months Pregnant’
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A St Louis police officer was sexually harassed by her supervisors, posted a pornographic video on Facebook and told to lose weight while six months pregnant, according to a lawsuit filed in the city this week.
Officer Amanda Signorino joined the force in December 2015 and dated her boss, Lt. Jeff Hoots, on and off for several years.
They broke up in January 2017 and then, according to Signorino, their problems began.
He was subjected to “continuous and unrequited sexual harassment, intimidation, bullying, practical jokes and advances,” according to the lawsuit.
Lt. Jeff Hoots, who retired in April 2022, is pictured in January 2017 with Officer Amanda Signorino; the publication was made around the time they separated.
Signorino joined the St Louis police in December 2015. He is now suing for sexual harassment.
“I have been sexually assaulted, harassed and discriminated against because of my gender,” she wrote in the letter sent to the court along with the lawsuit, obtained by st louis today.
‘After reporting discrimination, I was retaliated against, transferred and demoted.’
She noted that in December 2022 her boss told her to lose 13 pounds, while she was six months pregnant. It is not clear from the reports who the father of the unborn child is, or who allegedly told him to lose weight.
Signorino said Hoots was transferred to another campus, the Park Rangers, after they parted ways.
But in 2019 a colleague of his, a sergeant, sent him pornographic material on Facebook.
A colleague of Signorino’s reported it and she was called into a superior officer’s room to discuss it, without being allowed to bring her union representative with her, she says.
Hoots was transferred from the Signorino compound to the Park Rangers, who he joined in July 2017.
Signorino (pictured) said one of Hoots’s allies sent him pornographic material after their relationship ended.
Signorino said the officer tried to downplay the Facebook message and convince her that he was misrepresenting what had happened with Hoots.
Signorino was eventually transferred to another police station, North County.
However, in 2021, Hoots was transferred to the same compound, after a member of the Park Rangers division accused him of sexual harassment.
Hoots commanded the Park Rangers, but there he was also accused of sexual harassment
Brittney Young said Hoots had personally recruited her to his division in August 2020, when she was 21 and working as a lifeguard in the city.
She accused him of making her play his girlfriend in roll-playing training exercises, as an excuse to touch her.
She said that he sent her inappropriate messages, particularly when he had been drinking.
She said he also sent her a photo of himself shirtless inside his bedroom.
‘He asked me, ‘Do you date older men?’ she said. “And I said, ‘No, I’m dating people my age, not 50.’
Young said she was later retaliated against and demoted. He, too, has now filed a lawsuit accusing Hoots of sexual harassment and the county commanders of not doing enough to stop him.
Hoots was transferred out of the Park Rangers division and ended up back in charge of Signorino, at the North County Precinct.
Signorino said Hoots was transferred – because of the sexual harassment complaint – and ended up working with her again.
Signorino said the final straw was being told to lose 13 pounds while six months pregnant.
Signorino was transferred again and sent to a facility where she worked with the same people who investigated the pornography incident, she said.
In his lawsuit, Signorino said he lost income and worked the midnight shift, making it difficult to find child care.
She unsuccessfully sought a transfer from that precinct.
In April 2022, Hoots retired after 29 years on the force.
In December 2022, Signorino had a semi-annual evaluation where a lieutenant told him he needed to lose 13 pounds because he was overweight.
She was six months pregnant at the time: father not specified.
In his lawsuit, Signorino is seeking an unspecified amount of damages in excess of $25,000.
Spokesman Doug Moore said the county does not comment on pending litigation.