New allegations from Investigator suing Superior Police Department
SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Investigator suing the Superior Police Department, Mikayla LeRette, has filed an amended complaint in Federal Court.
The new amended complaint lists new allegations and actions of more people within the department.
LeRette is the wife of current Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt.
The suit is against the City of Superior, former Superior Police Captain Thomas Champaigne, Assistant Chief of Police John Kiel, Superior Police Captain Jeffrey Harriman and Superior Police Lieutenant Michelle Pope.
A lot of the complain centers around action during and after LeRette’s pregnancies.
The lawsuit says in 2022, “LeRette became the first Superior police officer to become pregnant in more than 20 years.”
LeRette says her supervisors asked Human Resources for her to be removed from her narcotics assignment upon learning of her pregnancy.
LeRette says “she had no work restrictions from her physician” during the initial parts of her pregnancy when the attempt was made to remove her from the narcotics assignment.
The suit claims the Superior Human Resources Department said her removal was not possible due to just her pregnancy.
The suit says the supervisors claimed they wanted to remove LeRette because she could possibly be around narcotics which could cause harm to her unborn baby.
LeRette does not believe that was the real cause for the request.
LeRette claims, “Assistant Chief Kiel told Plaintiff LeRette that she should be required to wear a ‘matron skirt’ and answer ‘desk calls” as a pregnant police officer, and they were not sure what to do with her.”
LeRette says the “Matron Skirt” comments were made “numerous” times by Assistant Chief Kiel. LeRette says the Assistant Chief also made public comments that LeRette should be removed from her narcotics position.
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LeRette says when she returned from her 2022 pregnancy she was “temporarily restricted to light duty by her physician’s order”.
LeRette says Champaigne and Pope removed LeRette from her narcotics assignment and reassigned her to the property room, “despite ample available work in that narcotics assignment and no medical restrictions [for other duties].”
The suit continues to claim, “LeRette was given strict rules, including being prohibited from carrying a firearm, driving a department vehicle, or leaving the station during work hours…. previous male officers assigned to temporary light duty were not removed from their regular assignments, prohibited from carrying firearms, prohibited from operating department vehicles, or prevented from leaving the station during work hours.”
LeRette says property room assignments “historically been used as a punitive assignment for officers who have been disciplined… [other police officers] who were temporarily restricted to light duty were never required to work in the property room.”
The suit continues to say, “From November of 2022 until September of 2023 Plaintiff LeRette experienced countless interruptions while expressing breast milk, including interruptions from male janitorial staff, male members of the police department and Lieutenant Pope entering the shower stall, sighing loudly in disgust, and turning the lights off on Plaintiff LeRette while she was lactating.”
The amended complaint also notes concerns with inconsistent scheduling practices. The suit claims LaRette was being ordered to report schedule changes and off time to more people and longer in advance than other people in similar roles.
The suit also claims three police officers told LeRette, “they were fearful of getting pregnant and starting a family while employed by the Superior Police Department due to how Plaintiff LeRette was being treated during her pregnancy and after returning to work.”
The amended complaint continues to allege Captain Champaigne placed tacking devices on vehicles that LeRette was driving while she was working with the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force in Duluth. The lawsuit says Champaigne did not have a warrant authorizing this tracking. The suit says the tracking continued even after Captain Champaigne retired.
The suit says there was a “campaign to drive LeRette out of the department” that involved members of the Police Department. It says a fellow member of the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force told LeRette, “it was clear to him that Lieutenant Pope had an issue with her and appeared to be targeting her.”
The lawsuit says on September 17, 2024 LeRette was served with a Notice of Internal Investigation.
The alleged policy violations included, “attendance violations, tardiness, insubordination, and theft or misuse of public funds”. The suit says because of the internal investigation LeRette was required to turn in her firearm, badge, department keys, and police identification card. She was also, “banned from the entire City of Superior government center, not just the police department.”
LeRette says she was given a background check in the two months prior to the September 2024 Notice of Internal Investigation for her roles with the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force (LSVOTF) and a Task Force Officer (TFO) position with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). LeRette then continued to claim, “Unsubstantiated disciplinary allegations were prematurely disclosed to federal task force officials and the Douglas County District Attorney, undermining Investigator LeRette’s role with the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force (LSVOTF) and interfering with a special assignment.”
LeRette’s suit also claims that an outside investigator was brought in to look into the claims against her. LeRette says the outside investigator “is at minimum, a personal acquaintance” of the people who lead the Superior Police Department investigation into her.
LeRetts suit also says she, “was recently denied a position with a neighboring agency and was told to allow ‘time and space’ from the investigation before reapplying.”
