Lawsuit: Airports Authority Spawns Culture of Discrimination, Retaliation, Nepotism

A former Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer filed suit in federal court earlier this year against the agency, alleging discrimination, retaliation and nepotism, and asserting that her 2012 dismissal has stymied her career. 

Attorneys for Isabel Smeal said in a recent interview that Smeal’s case demonstrates a sour atmosphere at MWAA that protects insiders and punishes those who question authority or the lack thereof.

“It is our belief that the culture of being opaque and not listening to employees is agency-wide and has leaked into the police department as well,” said Michael L. Vogelsang Jr., one of Smeal’s attorneys.

MWAA has come under investigation for some of the practices of its administration and board, and in response has made changes to its policies and procedures.

Smeal has not requested specific damages sought in the lawsuit, but indicated such damages should include economic, compensatory and punitive damages.

MWAA denied the accusations in its response to the lawsuit. A spokesman declined to comment.

“The Airports Authority … denies each and every allegation … not specifically admitted or otherwise answered, generally denies liability, denies that the Plaintiff has been damaged as alleged …” according to MWAA’s legal response.

According to Scott Oswald, another of Smeal's attorneys from The Employment Law Group law firm, her "allegations of fraud and harassment are supported by years of documentation and witness accounts. We are confident justice will be served for Isabel Smeal."

Smeal – who worked for MWAA for more than 14 years – was the first female MWAA police officer to become a firearms instructor and the first female M-4 Rifle Instructor. According to her suit, she received consistent positive performance reviews and salary increases during her time at the agency.

“This has been devastating for me and my family,” Smeal said. “I would never want another employee to go through what I endured.”

Now, because she was dismissed from a job she held for 14 years, she feels she has to start over, losing not only her job at MWAA, but her career.

“It made it very difficult in not impossible to find a job in a police-officer-law enforcement arena,” she said. “Besides ruining my career, they ruined any chance of continuing in law enforcement.”

From about 2002 to 2004, Smeal alleges, she experienced continual and unwanted sexual advances from a fellow police officer. After complaining twice to her supervisor, Smeal was told she was not the target of sexual harassment. Smeal said she later learned that MWAA failed to conduct a separate EEO investigation regarding her complaint prior to issuing its determination.

In 2011, Smeal reported to her supervisor that two women involved in a committed relationship were violating MWAA’s anti-nepotism policy one “spouse” supervised the other. Smeal was told that since Virginia does not recognize same-sex marriages, the nepotism policy had not been violated.

Smeal later learned that the supervising officer in question was “out to get [her]” because of her complaint. Smeal said she has faced sexual and race discrimination from superiors throughout her time at MWAA; however, she also pointed out that there are plenty of fine officers just trying to do their jobs.

“There are some very good officers there,” she said. “I think the problem starts when you go up the managerial ladder.”

Smeal admits that the incident immediately preceding her dismissal involved her making copies of a supervisor’s document that had not been distributed. However, she asserts in her suit that other more egregious violations by other officers have gone unpunished, including time-card fraud and the misplacement of a loaded gun in a public place.

"This has been devastating for me and my family,” Smeal said of the ordeal. “It has been extremely stressful for me emotionally, physically, and financially to have my whole career unjustly destroyed. I am a firm believer in the judicial system and I know that I will soon be able to move forward with my life and my career.”

The parties are engaged in the discovery process now and have a final pre-trial conference set for Aug. 30.