Assistant police chief charges the department with discrimination

CINCINNATI - The top female police officer in the city of Cincinnati says the department is discriminating against her.

Lt. Col. Cindy Combs, the only female assistant police chief in Cincinnati Police Department history, has filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Combs, who contended for the police chief’s job the last time it came open, follows by a month a similar action by Capt. Kim Frey, who ran the city’s largest police district before the police chief transferred her to the police academy, where no recruit class is scheduled.

Combs says she was transferred from heading the department’s Technology and Communications section at police headquarters to a “less desirable position without the same measure of responsibility as my previous assignment.”

Both women say their transfers took place after they complained internally of discrimination within the department. Both have worked there at least 30 years, and both now have hired labor attorney Randy Freking.

He called both model employees. “We've had two of the most senior women in the department transferred involuntarily after making complaints about discrimination. There seems to be a pattern."

Police Chief Tom Streicher says he can’t talk about either complaint because they’re under investigation but that "It's illegal for me to retaliate against anybody so no, absolutely I wouldn't. I'm bound by the law."

Streicher also says he generally transfers everyone under his command to help them grow by learning all parts of the agency. "To say that this position is more important than this position is utterly nonsense." He says he supports the EEOC and any city investigation. "We've got to ferret out whether or not it's simply disgruntled employees or it could be a legitimate concern on the part of someone, and if it is, then that person deserves an explanation and I say let's get them the explanation that they deserve."

City council member Leslie Ghiz is an employment attorney who says she’s concerned about this latest development. "It's my intention, and I have made it clear to the city solicitor as well as city manager that they need to look into this. This isn't something you can sit on, and it's not to be taken lightly."

Employees must file EEOC complaints before they can sue the city, so taxpayers could be on the hook if the women win, unless they settle for their old positions back. They would have to prove what the chief and city would likely argue, that the transfers had nothing to do with discrimination.