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Teresa Williams, the first female officer in the history of the rural town of Iron Mountain, Michigan, filed a discrimination, retaliation, and s*xual harassment lawsuit against the department after she was forced to resign from the force.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.
The lawsuit filed on February 13, 2023, alleged that within weeks of being hired in October 2017, Teresa Williams, 35, was relentlessly harassed by her direct supervisor Joseph Dumais. As per the New York Post, he forced the female officer to drink multiple shots at a bar and subsequently kiss him as part of an initiation ceremony.
The lawsuit also accused her former patrol partner, Garth Budek, of forcing himself on her while she drove him home from a bar at a later date. The lawsuit further noted that during a social occasion, Budek allegedly tried to pressure Williams into performing lewd acts at his home while his wife was in another room.
Teresa Williams named multiple defendants in her harassment lawsuit against the Iron Mountain Police Department
Teresa Williams filed a federal lawsuit that listed multiple defendants, including Iron Mountain’s department’s top two supervisors, Joseph Dumais, the deputy director of police services, Ed Mattson, the director of police and fire services, and Garth Budek, Williams’ former patrol partner.
As per AOL, Teresa Williams accused Dumais of initiating a four-and-a-half-year harassment campaign against her that allegedly began within weeks of starting work in the department. Williams said that she was set up for failure in the department, where she was alienated and belittled after she refused her male officers' advances.
The lawsuit detailed the first incident where she was groped by Joseph Dumais after he invited her to a bar to socialize with the other officers. Williams, who was allegedly excited at the prospect of bonding with her fellow officers, was supposedly forced to take fireball shots and told to kiss Dumais as part of the initiation ceremony.
Seemingly hesitant at the dubious request, Teresa Williams refused to comply, but the defendant talked her into taking the shot after demonstrating the same and kissing another officer, as per the New York Post. Williams, who took the shot, was then forced to kiss the defendant, who once again coerced her to take a second shot before he “put his hand between Plaintiff’s legs" and grabbed her inappropriately.
The lawsuit stated:
“Plaintiff refused and said the whole thing was made up. Dumais responded that it was required and that everyone had to do it as standard protocol. To allegedly demonstrate, Dumais took an initial shot along with a former county dispatcher (male) and then kissed him. Ultimately, Plaintiff buckled to the pressure and took the 'IMPD shot' with Dumais who, as a result, kissed Plaintiff and stated that she was now 'officially part of IMPD."
Teresa Williams said that her former partner Budek allegedly repeatedly assaulted and demeaned her. However, he was replaced with another officer who told her that the defendants, Dumais and Budek, bet on who could have s*x with her first, the suit said.
Teresa Williams alleged that she was stonewalled after she complained about the despicable behavior and was also threatened with suspension. The lawsuit went on to state that Dumais then suspended Williams multiple times on unreasonable grounds before her supervisors asked her to voluntarily resign before threatening to fire the plaintiff.
In a statement to NBC, Williams addressed the lawsuit and said:
“I want to see somebody step in and take action — like hold these people accountable. Just because you wear a badge and you’re a cop, it doesn’t mean you’re above the law. It doesn’t mean you get to treat people however you want and break the law and do whatever you want.”
Teresa Williams said that none of the defendants have been disciplined or investigated following her complaints against the department.
