SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The City of San Diego has agreed to pay $250,000 to a police officer who alleged she was sexually harassed and retaliated against after reporting what she said was racial bias during a pedestrian stop, Team 10 has learned.
The city agreed to pay Jennifer Gregory the money but continues to deny the allegations she made in a 2022 civil lawsuit, according to recently filed documents.
Gregory, who joined the force in 2012, alleged in her 2022 lawsuit that her captain, Manuel Del Toro, called her a “Rat F*** Snitch, a Buddy F***er,” and a “Blue Falcon,” a military slang for a comrade who betrays teammates for personal gain, after she accused two white officers of racial bias.
The incident stems from a pedestrian stop on Imperial Avenue in 2021 when officers Mark Bellatti and Mark Sullivan detained two people for jaywalking.
According to court records, Gregory wrote that her colleagues were “assholes” on a piece of paper she showed to a witness who came out of her home to question the legality of the stop.
Amol Brown/Team 10
The San Diego Police Department headquarters are pictured downtown.
Gregory alleged in her lawsuit that Bellatti and Sullivan cited the Black individual involved in the stop but not the white person.
The witness who came out of her home filed a complaint with the police force’s internal affairs unit.
During the internal probe, Gregory “made it clear that this was a situation of racial bias,” her lawsuit alleged.
The internal affairs investigation found Gregory violated police policy and cleared officers Bellatti and Sullivan of wrongdoing.
Gregory alleges Del Toro then made it clear he didn’t want her working in his division anymore and called her a snitch.
‘Sexually offensive’ comments
Later that year, Del Toro accused Gregory of communicating with community activist Tasha Williamson about the stop and other actions of police officers within the division, her lawsuit alleged. Gregory denied that she had spoken to the activist and said she wasn’t the snitch.
The lawsuit further alleged Del Toro put Gregory’s pending transfer to the department’s watch commander’s office on hold in an act of retaliation.
Gregory filed a complaint against Del Toro with the San Diego Equal Employment Investigations Office, alleging the captain made ‘sexually offensive’ comments and embarrassing name-calling.
According to the lawsuit, the employment investigation found Del Toro violated city policy and determined two other officers supported a sexually inappropriate posting about Gregory.
Harassment taken seriously: SDPD
Despite those findings, then-Police Chief David Nisleit allowed Del Toro to remain captain of the Southeastern Division, the lawsuit alleged.
Gregory, Sullivan and Bellatti all remain on active duty with the force while Del Toro is currently on medical leave, according to Ashley Nicholes, the communications manager for the police chief’s office.
Nicholes said Del Toro got a two-day suspension and disciplinary transfer following an internal affairs investigation.
“SDPD takes allegations of harassment and discrimination very seriously and holds its employees accountable to the highest professional standards,” she said in a statement Friday.
None of the officers named in the lawsuit returned requests for comment Friday.
Investigative Reporter Austin Grabish is a government watchdog and covers the Medical Board of California, military investigations and the U.S.-Mexico border. If you have a story for Austin to investigate, email austin.grabish@10news.com