Former Riverton police officer who claimed…

A former police detective who accused the Riverton Police Department of harboring a hostile work environment and racist tendencies has settled a federal lawsuit he filed in April, according to court documents.

Billy Whiteplume, the first enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho tribe to become a Riverton police officer, informed the U.S. District Court in Wyoming on Wednesday that he has settled his lawsuit against the agency and the city of Riverton.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in court filings Monday.

The filing requests that the lawsuit “be dismissed with prejudice, each party to bear its own costs and attorney’s fees,” reads Whiteplume’s motion, via his attorney Katherine Strike. “The case is totally compromised.”

In response, U.S. District Court Judge Kelly Rankin dismissed the case with an order a day later.

RPD Chief Eric Hurtado did not immediately respond Monday to a late request for comment.

Riverton Mayor Tim Hancock declined to comment.

Whiteplume told Cowboy State Daily he would comment on the matter at a later date.

Complaints

RPD denied Whiteplume’s allegations of hostility and racism in its May response to his complaint.

Whiteplume had alleged in his complaint that, while serving with the RPD as a detective, he attempted to help transients exposed to freezing weather in the late winter or spring of 2022 and fall next by coordinating between the city and the tribal government and trying to keep people going. facilities.

His supervisor reprimanded him on Nov. 18, 2022, for helping transients all day and neglecting his duties, the complaint states.

The supervisor told Whiteplume that there were complaints that he was spending too much time on the “homeless issue,” but he apparently did not produce any specific complaints.

The supervisor also asked Whiteplume to stop his outreach to passing migrants, the complaint states.

Whiteplume reportedly viewed this and other reprimands against him as discriminatory and retaliatory.

The drum incident

In late 2022, an RPD officer entered Whiteplume’s office, picked up a pen from his desk and began drumming on a can of peanuts with a rhythm matching the drumming of Native American customs that Whiteplume also participates in, says the complaint.

“Is that why you have this?” asked the officer.

Whiteplume considered this action offensive and insulting to his faith and culture.

“Are you real?” Whiteplume responded, apparently twice telling the officer to leave his office.

The complaint says Whiteplume reported the incident to his supervisor, who did not follow up on his report.

A few days later, Whiteplume told his supervisor he wanted no contact with the agent. He then met with his and the officer’s supervisor to report the drumming incident, the document states, adding that Whiteplume asked the officer’s supervisor to keep the officer away from him.

Later, Whiteplume’s own supervisor asked Whiteplume to “make things right” with the officer, a request the complaint calls inappropriate since the officer allegedly started the conflict with his drumming and comment.

Whiteplume met with the director of human resources regarding the drum incident. A week passed and the department reportedly took no action against the officer.

Whiteplume considered the department’s conduct to be intolerable and subjected it to a discriminatory and hostile work environment. He gave his two weeks’ notice.

Exit

The human resources director urged Whiteplume to talk about the conflict with the officer and said human resources would take additional action if this kind of thing happened again, the complaint states.

The filing says Whiteplume didn’t go tell the officer, saying, “Whiteplume’s responsibilities and duties did not include disciplining or counseling (him).”

Whiteplume told the human resources director he didn’t feel safe around the officer; she allegedly told him that he could work his last two weeks at home and that he could file a grievance.

But when she left a letter on his desk recounting the drumming incident, Whiteplume considered the letter a “minimization” of the incident and called it “banging the drum,” the complaint states.

Whiteplume’s supervisor allegedly told him that he was not supposed to work on his files at night at home, but was to close them when he was in the office.

“This directive made Mr. Whiteplume uncomfortable because he would have to be in the presence of people who made him uncomfortable,” the complaint states, listing the three other police officers.

The captain called Whiteplume the next day and told him he had to return to work or he wouldn’t be paid, the complaint states, adding that Whiteplume stayed home anyway because he didn’t feel safe in a “hostile work environment (which) was becoming increasingly serious. »

Originally, The Ask

Before settling his case, Whiteplume sought damages for back pay, restoration of benefits, lost wages, pension and any loss of earnings, as well as damages for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience , mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and future monetary losses.

The terms of his settlement have not yet been made public. However, in Wyoming, in general, settlements of government lawsuits are a matter of public record.

Claire McFarland can be reached at [email protected].