SAN DIEGO — A former San Diego police detective is suing the city, claiming she was forced to resign after reporting domestic violence allegedly committed by her ex-husband, also an SDPD officer.
Allyson Ford, who spent 17 years with SDPD, alleges in her San Diego Superior Court complaint that after coming forward regarding domestic abuse she suffered, members of the police department protected her then-husband and “ultimately made the terms and conditions of her work environment so unbearably hostile that she was forced to resign.”
The lawsuit alleges that outside of the “years of abuse, threats, (and) infidelity” from her ex-husband, Ford also faced harassment from male officers and witnessed similar treatment of other female officers.
The complaint states SDPD has “a cardinal rule that applies to women only: endorse our hostile, boys’ club work environment, or face swift retaliation.”
A police department spokesperson declined to comment and referred inquiries to the San Diego City Attorney’s Office. A City Attorney’s spokesman said the office cannot comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit states the incident that prompted Ford to report her husband happened at their Escondido home in April of 2020, in which Ford was shoved into a wall and struck in the face.
Escondido police arrested Ford’s husband, but the lawsuit alleges San Diego officers intervened on her husband’s behalf and he was released from custody.
Ford claims the department then conducted a “woefully inadequate” Internal Affairs investigation into the alleged domestic violence and later failed to investigate Ford’s husband when he refused to be served a temporary restraining order she filed against him. When a permanent restraining order was granted in late 2020, the lawsuit alleges Ford’s husband repeatedly violated the order, and SDPD took no action against him.
She also alleges she reported child abuse that her husband allegedly committed against their son but said SDPD investigators ruled her allegations were unfounded without properly investigating them.
In the years that followed, Ford alleges she was retaliated against by department leaders, who denied her leave — including bereavement leave following her mother’s death — and imposed rules upon her that other officers did not face.
The lawsuit states the denial of her leave of absence was later reported to the county’s Civil Service Commission, which overturned the denial, leading the department to retaliate against her by opening an Internal Affairs investigation into Ford.
The lawsuit’s causes of action include gender-based discrimination, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
