Three longtime Nampa police officers and one officer's wife filed a federal lawsuit against the police department and the city Thursday afternoon.
"In good faith, they have been raising concerns about the department‚s waste of taxpayer funds and public safety," the lawsuit alleges. "The department and the city have ignored those concerns and have instead chosen to engage in a campaign of retaliatory harassment."
Police Chief Bill Augsburger said he is aware of the allegations but cannot comment on them because of the pending litigation. He said he had not seen the lawsuit and was not aware it had been filed until he was contacted by the Statesman Thursday evening. Mayor Tom Dale, also named in the lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.
The lawsuit was filed by NPD investigator Leonard Claunts, Lt. Joe Huff and Sgt. Curtis Shankel, who all worked in the department's Internal Affairs division and say they reported various wrongdoing and policy violations by officers and supervisors to top police administrators to no avail. Frustrated by the lack of response, they ultimately conveyed their concerns to the mayor, City Council and human resources director, according to the lawsuit.
The fourth plaintiff is Leonard Claunts' wife, Ginger, who reportedly emailed Human Resources Director Ed Simmerman last November, alleging various issues of public safety and misuse of public funds. About the same time, Shankel sent an anonymous letter to Mayor Dale and the City Council about the same general issues, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit claims Augsburger threatened to sue two of the officers for slander, reassigned Lt. Huff and took various retaliatory actions against all three, ranging from a negative performance review to downgrading their police vehicles and office space. One month ago, according to the lawsuit, all three officers were served with "personnel notices" from Augsburger and told that the Canyon County Sheriff's Office would conduct an internal affairs investigation against them.
Attorneys for Augsburger and Deputy Chief Craig Kingsbury also threatened to sue Ginger Claunts after the human resource director shared her email with Augsburger, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that all three officers met individually with Dale and Simmerman this past spring about their concerns and the alleged retaliation against them but were ultimately told that no action would be taken as a result and that "everything is in the chief's hands per the mayor."
The plaintiffs seek a jury trial and a court order for the department and city "to immediately cease any and all retaliatory conduct, to return plaintiffs to the positions and status they held prior to the start of the retaliation, to rewrite the negative reviews they received" and to end the internal affairs investigation against them.
