BOSTON — A Suffolk County jury has awarded $11 million to Major Kathryn Downey, the highest-ranking woman in the Massachusetts State Police, after finding that the department discriminated against her based on her gender and retaliated against her following a misconduct report, the Boston Globe reported.
The verdict includes $10 million in punitive damages and $1 million in compensatory damages for emotional distress, according to the report. Jurors concluded that the State Police acted with “intentional and reckless or recklessly indifferent” discrimination.
| RELATED: Police1 survey reveals harassment and discrimination of female officers
Downey, 53, is a 20-year veteran of the force. Her lawsuit, filed in 2018, claimed she was targeted after reporting that another trooper, with whom she had been in a relationship, allegedly engaged in sexual activity while on duty and stored pornography on a work hard drive, according to the report. The trooper, Earl Johnson, was later disciplined. Downey alleged that after her report, Johnson retaliated by accusing her of misconduct in what Downey’s suit described as a prank involving a dummy TASER, leading to her own discipline and reassignment.
Downey also claimed she was disciplined more harshly than another male colleague, also involved in that incident. She was transferred from the academy and received a letter of reprimand, while the male trooper involved faced no discipline.
Additionally, Downey alleged the department failed to investigate her complaint about false rumors that she was in a sexual relationship with a superior officer, according to the report. She said those rumors were retaliatory and intended to damage her reputation.
Originally dismissed in 2021, Downey’s claims against the department were reinstated by a state appeals court in 2023, allowing the case to proceed to trial. Claims against Johnson were dismissed and that ruling was upheld.
Downey’s lawyers, Leonard Kesten and Erica Brody, said in a statement that the verdict “sends a clear message: discrimination is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, especially in a profession tasked with upholding the law for all people.”
The jury’s decision follows a $6.8 million judgment in another Suffolk County case, where the agency was found to have discriminated against female and minority troopers in its promotional process.
Her lawyers said Downey has continued to rise through the ranks and now feels supported by the current leadership under Colonel Geoffrey Noble, who was appointed in 2024 as the first outside leader in the department’s history.
The Massachusetts State Police declined to comment on the verdict.
| NEXT: What women in policing told us about harassment — and why so few feel safe reporting it
