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Prince George's ordered to pay ex-officer $1.8 million in sexual assault case
A United States District Court judge this week ordered Prince George's County to pay $1.8 million to a former county police officer in economic damages stemming from a 2017 sexual assault that she alleged was committed by her supervising officer, an incident that Kara McMurray said in a lawsuit led to retaliation against her after she reported it.
McMurray, who left the department in 2021, had already been awarded nearly $400,000 in compensatory damages by a federal jury last March after it found that her former lieutenant, Richard Tallant, and the county were liable for violating her civil rights.
On Tuesday, Judge Theodore Chuang ordered the county to pay another $1,862,218 in back pay and wages she would have earned through retirement, according to court documents, bringing McMurray's total award to more than $2 million.
The county will also be responsible for attorney fees, said Christopher Griffiths, an attorney representing McMurray.
'It's been a long, hard road for Ms. McMurray. She lost a job she loved,' Griffiths said. 'We're gratified that she is finally getting the compensation that she deserves.'
On Friday, a county spokesperson said in a statement that 'the county is aware of the verdict and our office of law is reviewing it.' Chaz Ball, an attorney representing Tallant, who was previously found guilty of a criminal sexual assault charge stemming from the incident, declined to comment.
The lawsuit stems from an incident that occurred on Feb. 10, 2017, when McMurray went to the Fraternal Order of Police Prince George's County Lodge 89 after finishing a late-night shift. That night, McMurray socialized with other officers, including Tallant, in the parking lot of the lodge after it closed.
When she went into the woods to 'relieve herself,' Tallant followed McMurray and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. Two other officers who went to look for McMurray in the woods, witnessed the aftermath of the assault that included 'seeing Tallant on the ground and McMurray appearing upset and running back to her car with her pants zipper broken open,' court documents stated. Tallant got up and left in his car.
McMurray went back to work shortly after the assault and encountered Tallant. He cornered her in a police hallway and asked her if she wanted him to transfer her, according to court documents. Tallant then began to joke about the situation on several occasions in front of other officers, embarrassing and intimidating McMurray with his statements, court records state.
She informed a sergeant of what happened to her a few months later. The sergeant appeared upset by the information, but warned McMurray of Tallant's connections throughout the department and the possibility for retaliation. She chose not to report the assault and transferred to another police squad in fall 2017.
Two years later, McMurray told another officer of her assault, and that officer reported the case to the department's internal affairs division, which launched an investigation. Details of the probe, however, were leaked within the department, and McMurray found herself receiving insults and the subject of salacious rumors involving Tallant.
She was bullied via social media and her options to transfer to other units within the department were blocked by friends of Tallant while her fellow officers refused to give backup to her during service calls, court records show. McMurray went on to file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that she had experienced a hostile work environment based on her gender. Department leadership refused to take corrective actions to mitigate the rumors and the antagonism against McMurray from colleagues, she said in court documents. She resigned in December 2021 after working as a county police officer since June 2014.
According to court documents, a jury found the county liable for violating McMurray's civil rights. The department showed a 'failure to supervise and discipline officers who retaliated against McMurray,' exhibited an indifference to a custom of 'black balling' officers who report officer misconduct and engaged in a practice of subjecting officers who did report such incident to be left without backup while responding to police calls, the jury found.
The jury also found Tallant, who is no longer with the department, liable for battery and false imprisonment.
He was found guilty of a second-degree sex offense in 2019 and sentenced to seven years in prison before appealing that conviction and being granted a new trial.
In assessing the economic damages done to McMurray, Chuang said in his opinion that he disagreed with the county's assertion that she could have found a job at another police department. McMurray 'could not reasonably be expected to seek another position as a police officer and made substantial efforts to mitigate damages' when she sought other employment positions, the judge ruled.
He granted McMurray back pay, covering the period between her departure from the department and when he issued his ruling. The damages also included the amount McMurray would have earned had she continued to work for the police department through her retirement eligibility date in October 2033. She was 29 at the time she was forced to resign, according to the court documents.
'Although McMurray remains relatively young, all of her prior education and experience is related to police work, a field from which she is now effectively blackballed,' Chuang said in his opinion.
Katie Mettler contributed to this report.
