HENDERSON (KTNV) — A federal judge has dismissed a case against the City of Henderson and a former union leader that was filed by former Police Chief LaTesha Watson.
In 2020, Watson sued the City of Henderson and former president of the Henderson Police Supervisors Association, Kevin Abernathy, claiming she was discriminated against due to her race and gender.
Watson was originally hired by the city to be its new police chief in September 2017.
She claims she was initially supported by the city until she began to tell the union "no".
CHANNEL 13 ARCHIVES: Henderson Police Chief LaTesha Watson outlines plan a year into job
According to her complaints, Watson states she "quickly received indications that City personnel preferred her presence as a token, signaling change, not as an active agent of change."
She also stated that she tried to implement changes "designed to reset the organizational culture including disciplining misconduct", which led to backlash.
After receiving several complaints about Watson from several employees, in June 2018, city officials hired a third party to begin looking into them.
Some of the allegations against Watson included:
- hiring a friend as a consultant
- cheating on certification exams
- accepting hockey tickets in violation of the city's ethics policy
- taking excessive time off work
- creating a hostile work environment
- saying she had a "mole" on the union executive board
- unlawfully targeting and retaliating against union members for union activities
According to court records, the attorney that investigated the claims "was able to substantiate the factual allegations that union members were being targets and retaliated against", Watson's communications with subordinates were "overly harsh and disrespectful", and that Watson had violated various city policies.
Ultimately, the attorney recommended that Watson be disciplined, "to include termination."
On March 14, 2019, the city offered Watson a separation agreement giving Watson the chance to resign instead of being terminated.
Court documents state Watson and city officials weren't able to come to an agreement and Watson was fired.
CHANNEL 13 ARCHIVES: Henderson Police Chief LaTesha Watson has been fired from her post
According to a motion filed last week by U.S. District Judge Cristina Silva, Watson was not able to prove there was a hostile work environment because Watson "does not identify a policy, practice, or custom as the moving force behind the violation."
Silva also wrote that Watson did not demonstrate a "genuine issue of material fact" regarding the discrimination claims.
The motion also states the case against Abernathy will be dismissed because Watson "files to point to any evidence in the record as to how Abernathy would be or could be responsible for the outside investigations, nor the outcome of those investigations."
I reached out to the City of Henderson who sent the following statement after the verdict.
"We are pleased with the dismissal of this case as it reaffirms the City had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for terminating the former at-will police chief."
After Watson was fired, the City of Henderson promoted Deputy Sheriff Thedrick Andres.
In January 2023, Andres announced he was retiring from the City of Henderson. He was later named Chief of Police for the Cibolo Police Department in Texas.
Hollie Chadwick was then hired as police chief but was recently fired.
WATCH: What do Henderson residents think of Chief Chadwick being forced out?
A complaint was filed on Dec. 10 about tensions between the Henderson Police Department amid allegations that Lieutenant Charles Hedrick, President of the Henderson Police Supervisors Association, was unfairly targeted by Chief Hollie Chadwick.
Former Chief Chadwick has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The city manager has previously told Channel 13 that she hopes to find a permanent replacement soon. Until then, Deputy Chief Isaac Henn will lead the department.
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