FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — There were heated moments Monday in a Frankfort courtroom as attorneys for Kentucky State Police and the female sergeant suing the agency argued over whether she should be subjected to an internal affairs interview while on medical leave during the pending lawsuit.
Sgt. Vicki Day filed the lawsuit in April, alleging that Kentucky State Police retaliated against her after she raised questions about a grant-funded trip to El Paso by eight employees of the agency.
Day alleges that the agency began disciplinary actions against her after she raised questions about how much training took place on the trip. The trip cost more than $18 thousand in grant money meant to fight drug addiction through education, harm reduction efforts and getting drugs off the street, according to records obtained by LEX 18.
Kentucky State Police and the state Justice & Public Safety Cabinet have said the trip was legitimate, and that the people on it visited the El Paso Intelligence Center for training on license plate readers.
Day has been diagnosed with depression caused by the “hostile work environment at KSP” after she questioned the trip, and she was put on medical leave for 60 workdays, her attorneys wrote in a court motion. In that motion, her attorneys asked that the court intervene in the agency’s attempts to conduct an internal affairs interview with her while she’s on leave.
Clay indicated at the beginning of Monday’s hearing that Day was prepared to testify, but Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate said he did not want witness testimony and instead asked attorneys for each side to file memorandums outlining their arguments.
Until Wingate makes a decision on whether or not Day should have to take part in an internal affairs interview, the interview is on hold.
An attorney representing Kentucky State Police, Peter Ervin, argued that Day’s willingness to testify at Monday’s hearing showed that she would be able to do the internal affairs interview.
“She can testify in this court but she can't give an interview to Capt. Green, that's absurd,” Ervin said during the hearing.
“Well, Mr. Ervin has a rose-colored view of the evidence in this case,” responded Thomas Clay, Day’s attorney.
Clay argued that Day’s medical provider has said that the interview would cause further harm to Day’s mental health.
Ervin argued that the filing of a lawsuit should not stop KSP from conducting their internal investigation as usual.
Ervin also argued that the internal investigation into Day couldn’t be retaliatory because it began before she questioned the El Paso trip. A court document filed by KSP’s attorneys stated that the internal investigation began after a civilian employee made a complaint alleging Day called her in the middle of the night and accused her of having an affair with her husband, and then tried to limit the employee’s contact with her husband.
Clay disputed that the investigation began before Day’s questioning of the trip, and argued that retaliation against Day continues. Day’s husband, who was on the trip to El Paso, was recently demoted from Major to Captain, Clay said in court.
“They've even gone so far as to tell her husband, ‘you’ve got to make a choice, you’ve got to choose between KSP and your wife,’” Clay said.
Day’s husband sat at her side during Monday’s court hearing.
