HPD whistleblower alleges sexual discrimination

A Honolulu police officer filed a lawsuit against the department Friday alleging whistleblower retaliation after she reported male training academy staff who allegedly discriminated against female recruits and engaged in sexual relations with others.

The civil action, filed Friday in Oahu Circuit Court, also names the city and Lt. Bienvenido Villaflor II, Maj. Paul Okamoto and Maj. Manuel Hernandez III, who all were assigned to the Honolulu Police Department’s Ke Kula Makai training academy in Waipahu at the time the alleged discrimination took place between May 2022 and September 2023.

Sgt. Sheri Taflinger was assigned to the training academy and was in charge of the 207th recruit class and the Field Training and Evaluation Program. FTEP takes new recruits out into patrol districts and pairs them with on-duty officers.

Villaflor, Okamoto and Hernandez allegedly engaged in “pervasive discrimination, sexual harassment, sex discrimination and whistle blower retaliation” against Taflinger.

Villaflor is allegedly the subject of five sexual harassment complaints and was reassigned to police District 4, which covers Kaneohe, Kailua and Kahuku.

The lawsuit also alleges “gender discrimination, sexual harassment, pervasive over-sexualization of female officers and HPD sponsored sex orgies and subsequent retaliation” against Taflinger for reporting illegal behavior and violations of HPD policies and standards of conduct.

Retaliation from the department led to Taflinger being transferred to the night watch in Patrol District 8, which covers West Oahu, according to the complaint.

“The Honolulu Police Department takes all allegations seriously,” said Michelle Yu, HPD spokesperson, in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We will be working with city attorneys to address the lawsuit.”

Taflinger told the Star-­Advertiser that as a dedicated 20-year veteran of HPD who has provided almost 18 years of field and academy training to recruits, it is “disheartening that I was not protected by those sworn to do so from discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation for speaking up about a long history of covered-up culture of female discrimination; quid pro quo incidents on female personnel, especially recruits; countless uncomfortable situations with male personnel; and made to feel powerless by male commanders or supervising officers who devalue the female sworn personnel’s’ skills, expertise, decisions, and opinions.”

“In fact, the HPD decided to silence me by removing me from my position, reassigning me, and subjecting me and my staff to an unwarranted and false targeted criminal investigation,” she said. “If I did not speak up about this and against those who have been trying to sweep it under the rug, what would that say to my teenage daughter, fellow female officers, and all the future recruit applicants of HPD? I felt it was my obligation as a supervisor and female to stand up for what is right … and being right is not always the popular thing.”

In 2022, Taflinger reported to her command that “male ranking officers showing sexual attention” to certain female recruits was resulting in those recruits getting more chances to pass the department’s physical fitness assessment, according to the lawsuit.

On May 3, 2022, Taflinger allegedly overheard Villaflor, one of her superiors at the academy, “spreading defamatory and untrue statements” about Taflinger and another female officer assigned to the training division, including that they were against female recruits and didn’t like “Haole girls.”

Taflinger reported the comments to her captain at the time, who did not address the issue, according to the complaint.