Former South Fulton police officer accuses department of harassment, retaliation

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - A former South Fulton police officer says she was sexually harassed by a sergeant in her unit, ignored when she reported the behavior, and later fired in retaliation.

Accusations of harassment, retaliation 

What we know:

Vanasia Harris, who joined the department’s H.E.A.T. traffic unit in February, alleges the harassment began in late March when she received sexually explicit messages from a sergeant, including one that read, "COME SIT ON THIS." She said the man later sent her an image of his genitals.

According to a complaint, Harris told the sergeant to stop and to lose her number. She said the harassment escalated when he used department GPS tracking to follow her and offered her cash to stay quiet.

Vanasia Harris on ‘normal’ conduct

What they're saying:

"At some point after these harassing messages, he followed her through his GPS, the GPS in her car, and tried to give her money, cash money to basically silence her from ratting him out for his sexual harassment," her attorney, Mitch Skandalakis, said.

Harris said she refused the money but feared for her safety. "Eventually I'm either going to be gone or some is going to happen to me because he was very demanding. So I thought just going to a supervisor would help," she said.

Harris said she reported the behavior to a female supervisor but was told the conduct was "normal." She said she was dismissed on multiple occasions.

By July, Harris had been fired. The department cited violations of its body camera policy. Skandalakis said the termination was retaliation. "Instead of doing the right thing, the city of South Fulton retaliates against her," he said.

Harris said she chose to speak publicly so other female officers would feel empowered to report harassment.

South Fulton responds

The other side:

The city issued a statement, saying:

"The South Fulton Police Department is aware of the allegations recently brought forward by a former officer. These claims are being taken very seriously. The department does not tolerate harassment of any kind and holds all employees to the highest professional standards.

"Because this matter involves pending legal action, we cannot discuss specific details at this time but will fully cooperate with any official investigations.

We are committed to keeping the public informed and will provide updates as legally appropriate. No further comment will be provided at this time due to the active nature of the case."

South Fulton PD chief on leave

Dig deeper:

The department has already been under fire recently with the chief even being placed on leave.

On July 23, the South Fulton City Council approved an amendment to the employee handbook that mandates paid administrative leave for department heads under investigation. 

That policy immediately affected Police Chief Keith Meadows, who was placed on leave starting Aug. 5, as an independent inquiry into the department was launched. 

The decision followed a series of lawsuits from at least four former officers alleging unpaid overtime, racial discrimination, abuse of power, interference with internal investigations, and even nepotistic protection of family members through improper influence on polygraph outcomes.

Calls to shut down department

What's next:

Skandalakis said Harris is seeking not only disciplinary action against those involved but also the closure of the department. "Based upon this existence of this toxic culture of sexual harassment…this department, quite frankly, needs to be shut down. It needs to be gone. And we're in the process of getting a meeting with Post, which is the Georgia Peace Officers Training Standards and Training to discuss this very issue," he said.

What we don't know:

It was not known if anyone would face disciplinary action.

A lawsuit has not yet been filed.

It was not immediately clear if the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council would act on the request.