Sexism forced pilot to quit dream job with New Mexico police, suit says. She got $750K

When LeAnne Gomez became a pilot for New Mexico State Police, she thought she’d found her dream job.

Years later, she ended up resigning and suing the agency after she said she experienced discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including co-workers telling her not to “break a nail” and calling her “Air Unit Secretary.” The case settled this week for $750,000, news outlets reported.

“Generally as far as the lawsuit and settlement is concerned, we’re satisfied with the result,” Timothy L. White, one of Gomez’s lawyers, told McClatchy News.

McClatchy News reached out to New Mexico State Police and the Department of Safety and was awaiting responses. The state didn’t admit liability in the settlement, and the Department of Safety denied the claims, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Gomez learned to love flying as a child as both her grandfather and father were pilots.

In 2015, she was recruited to join the New Mexico State Police as the first woman to be hired as a pilot for helicopters for New Mexico law enforcement.

After working under the New Mexico State Police Air Unit, Gomez said the environment harassed, belittled and demeaned her, according to the lawsuit.

After one of her first flight lessons in July 2015, the lawsuit accuses a commander and chief pilot of saying “Well, that was a $2,000 dollar date.”

During a conference, the commander told Gomez she was “drawing too much of a crowd” and that he would be “telling everyone” they were married, according to the lawsuit. Gomez advised him to not say those things.

The lawsuit accuses the agency of responding to Gomez’s complaints of sexism and misogyny as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “nightmare” and that she had an “attitude.”

“LeAnne very courageously stuck it out at State Police in the face of very serious discriminatory and retaliatory conduct until for the sake of her health she had to leave, then she just as courageously stood up to the misconduct she faced in this lawsuit,” White told McClatchy News.

When Gomez was first hired, she was told there would be a “guaranteed spot” for her in the “lateral academy,” since she was already a certified New Mexico law enforcement officer after her time as as a patrol officer on the Emergency Response Team with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, according to the lawsuit.

Gomez was instead admitted to the “full academy,” according to the lawsuit.

The “full academy,”, 20-week course, had a pay decrease and a lack of flight hours while it was in session, while the “lateral academy,” a seven-week program, provided an $8,000 sign-on bonus, according to the lawsuit.

After completing the “full academy” in 14 weeks, Gomez had a meeting with the commander about why she had been sent there instead of the “lateral academy,” to which he said, “because I was mad at you” over a previous meeting during which she expressed concerns, according to the lawsuit.

Upon returning to the Aviation Unit, Gomez had no training plan despite her repeatedly asking for one, lawsuit says. She also said her male counterparts treated her differently, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses them of isolating and leaving her out of meetings, team missions and workouts. It further accuses the agency of reprimanding her for studying for a qualification required by NMSP Standard Operating Procedures, which was necessary if she wanted to advance as a pilot, according to the lawsuit.

She was called the “Air Unit Secretary,” ordered to file “a year’s worth” of documents and told to be careful not to “break a nail” when performing tasks, the lawsuit said.

After years of being told “if you don’t like it, leave and fly elsewhere,” Gomez resigned to protect her health, according to the lawsuit.

“Her real one and only goal was to make a change in the department so this would not happen to another officer, male or female. LeAnne had to leave her lifelong dream of flying, and is currently working as a massage therapist. She is trying to decide how she can use the settlement funds to really affect change for women especially who are suffering this kind of discrimination, possibly even going to law school to someday represent others like her,” White told McClatchy News.

This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Sexism forced pilot to quit dream job with New Mexico police, suit says. She got $750K."