Horry County cop says she faced discrimination, was denied promotion by police department
A recruiter for Horry County police is suing the department, saying she was denied other positions and faced ongoing discrimination in the agency.
Jodi Ridgeway filed suit against Horry County police this week in Horry County court. Horry police spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov said it’s county policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Ridgeway joined Horry police in 2011 as a patrol officer and now serves as a recruiter, according to the filing. She also helped run a citizen’s police academy and was a good employee, the suit states.
In September 2018, the head of Horry’s police internal affairs was “forced to resign,” the filing states.
Horry County police Chief Joe Hill signed a document recommending the firing of the head of Internal Affairs, according to documents provided to The Sun News. The officer never signed the termination document.
Ridgeway was one of six people to interview for the Internal Affairs position, and the interview board thought she was going to be hired, the suit claims. Hill decided to hire a different person, a black man, for the job.
Hill told Ridgeway the only reason he opened the process to other interviews was to follow county policy, the suit states. Hill added that he selected the other applicant because it was someone he trusted and told Ridgeway she “did not understand the challenges that a black man faces in law enforcement.”
Ridgeway filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a result of that decision.
After Ridgeway filed the complaint, she says Hill started to treat her different and prevented her from running the citizen’s academy.
The new Internal Affairs investigator quit months after being hired, according to the filing. Ridgeway claims the position should have been offered to someone that already interviewed. Instead, Hill hired someone who was subject to an Internal Affairs investigation and was not one of the original six people interviewed.
Ridgeway filed a second discrimination complaint after she was again passed over for the job.
The department also promoted other female officers, including a less qualified woman to the hostage team, the suit states. Hill reportedly told Ridgeway that “I had to place a female on the team to have more diversity.”
The suit also claims Ridgeway faces sexual discrimination from supervisors and other officers, but it does not detail any specific incidents.
