Oct 27, 2014 3 min read

A California University of Pennsylvania police officer is suing the school, claiming she was passed up for promotions because of her gender, punished for taking sick days and told to “walk on eggshells” upon her hiring in 2010.

Elizabeth Gatta of Charleroi filed the federal lawsuit Oct. 16 alleging discrimination and retaliation against her caused “work-related stress” from a hostile environment in the department.

She also claims she was regularly called the “affirmative action hire” and that promises for tuition credits to earn a master’s degree and training for the department’s sexual assault investigation team were never fulfilled. Gatta said she was also forced to change in a coed locker room with three men.

“In her second week on the job, (Gatta) was informed by members of the police department command staff that she had only been hired because she was a woman and that she would ‘walk on eggshells,'” the lawsuit alleges.

Cal U. spokeswoman Christine Kindl said the university is aware of the lawsuit, but she declined to comment on the allegations.

Kindl said there are 22 employees working for the university’s police department, including three women. Gatta is the only female officer in the 18-person force, although one of the three security guards is a woman.

Gatta claims she was offered an opportunity to work in the sexual assault unit, but was later passed over for a male officer despite receiving a letter of appreciation from Southwest Regional police Chief John Hartman for her assistance of a rape investigation conducted by his department. The lawsuit does not elaborate on what Gatta did during that investigation or what was written in the letter. Hartman declined to comment.

She said she received “criticism and scrutiny” after breaking her ankle while off-duty in July 2011 and remaining on leave for 14 weeks while recuperating. Gatta was also refused sick leave after she was gone from work from July 2012 to July 2013 following the death of her mother and other issues. She was put on sick leave restriction following several other situations, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit also claims Gatta was denied the chance of interviewing to become a canine handler earlier this year and was passed over for a “male applicant with less seniority” than her.

She made a formal complaint to the university’s Office of Social Equality. Gatta claims the university retaliated by ordering her to undergo a psychiatric exam. The department suspended her without pay for five days in May and ordered she not be permitted to take sick leave until November.

Gatta’s attorney, Susan Mahood, did not return a phone call seeking comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit is requesting compensation for lost income, damage to her professional reputation and mental anguish.