SALT LAKE CITY — A former Salt Lake police detective says in a federal lawsuit that the department forced her out for reporting what she saw as unethical behavior for a prosecutor in the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

Hilary Gordon, police officer and homicide detective for 20 years, claims the police administrators retaliated against and wrongfully disciplined her for recording meetings with a prosecutor involving a homicide case in 2016.

Gordon further alleges that she has endured several years of being treated unfairly and disrespectfully based on her gender and or sexual orientation.

"It is obvious that male officers who have violated SLCPD’s policies have received little to no discipline, while Ms. Gordon received very harsh punishment that ruined her career as a police officer when she did nothing wrong other than whistleblowing," according to the 58-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court last week.

Gordon made the recordings because she did not want to be part of an"unethical investigation and she was documenting the bizarre and unethical behavior" of the prosecutor, the suit says.

The prosecutor, who is not identified in the lawsuit, made derogatory comments about District Attorney Sim Gill and wanted to conduct a secret wiretap in the homicide case because Gill could not be trusted and would leak the information to a defense attorney friend, the suit says.

Gordon also asserts that the prosecutor made offensive comments about her wife, who also works as a prosecutor in the district attorney's office.

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Feud between 2 Salt Lake police officers sparks civil lawsuit

A bad falling out that led to a confrontation between two off-duty Salt Lake police officers and at least one being disciplined by the department has now culminated in a civil lawsuit.

Gordon turned the recordings over to the district attorney's office in September 2016 and Gill placed the prosecutor on administrative leave, the lawsuit says.

The police department placed Gordon on administrative leave in January 2017, where she remained for nine months while it conducted an internal affairs investigation. She received a "scathing" discipline letter in which Chief Mike Brown said she embarrassed the department.

Gordon returned to work at a lesser job but felt she had no choice but to retire shortly after "knowing that her career was ruined by the blatant witch hunt," according to the lawsuit.

Gordon also later found out, the lawsuit claims, that members of her homicide squad often made fun of her sexual orientation when she was not around and did not want her back on the team.

Gordon cites several cases in which she believes male officers received light punishment for violating police policies, including a highly publicized incident where a detective arrested a University Hospital nurse for refusing to let him draw blood from a patient.

Brown initially only removed detective Jeff Payne from the blood-draw program until nurse Alex Wubbels released video of the confrontation to the public, the lawsuit says. His supervisor, Lt. James Tracy, received no discipline until the video came out, according to the suit.

The department investigation after the video release happened with "lightning speed" and was completed in two weeks, the lawsuit says. Brown ultimately fired Payne and demoted Tracy.

Gordon's lawsuit names Salt Lake City, Mayor Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake police, Brown and several captains and lieutenants as defendants. It seeks unspecified amount in damages for emotional distress and lost pay as well as punitive damages.

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