Editor’s note: This article, originally published at 1:48 p.m. on April 18, 2025, was updated at 11:58 a.m. on April 21, 2025, to add a statement about the settlement from the City of Takoma Park.
A former dispatcher for the Takoma Park Police Department reached a $1 million settlement with the city regarding her claims of sexual harassment by a superior and retaliation from other officers after she filed a complaint, according to a Wednesday press release from the law firm that represented her.
“I am happy that the truth came out and that I fought back,” Kakila Cooper, the former dispatcher, said in the release from the Correia & Puth law firm based in Washington, D.C.
In May 2024, Cooper filed a civil complaint under the Montgomery County Human Rights Law alleging that police Sgt. Thomas Black sexually harassed her during her overnight shifts. Cooper worked as a communications dispatcher for the city from April 2022 to October 2023. After reporting the harassment, Black was suspended from the department for several months, according to the complaint.
In a statement emailed Thursday to Bethesda Today, Takoma Park City Manager Robert DiSpirito said the city was “obviously aware” of Cooper’s claims.
“The matter was defended by the City’s insurer and resolved in an out-of-court settlement,” DiSpirito said. “The City is not going to comment on litigation or personnel matters.”
DiSpirito did not address Bethesda Today’s questions regarding Black’s employment status. Black is currently listed on the city’s staff directory as a Police Private.
Black did not respond to Bethesda Today’s phone call request for comment on the case Friday morning.
On Friday, the City of Takoma Park also released a statement about the settlement.
“The City takes allegations of employee misconduct seriously and works to ensure employee safety and minimize harm while providing due process to all involved,” the statement said. “ … The City placed the officer involved on leave, investigated the allegations, and imposed disciplinary action consistent with the Maryland Police Accountability Act.”
The statement noted that all of its employees are required to adhere to its personnel policy on Non-Discrimination, Harassment Prevention and Retaliation, and the city would review the policy, procedures and training to “ensure continued compliance.”
“We value our diverse workforce and will continue to promote a safe and inclusive work environment for all our employees,” the statement said.
Attorney Subhashini Bollini praised Cooper in the press release as a “courageous public servant who stood up for her rights, even when her doing so meant that she became a target of hostility at work.”
Bollini did not immediately respond Friday morning to Bethesda Today’s phone call request for comment on the settlement.
According to Cooper’s complaint, Black would spend long periods of time in the dispatcher’s office “hovering” over Cooper as she worked. During this time, the complaint alleges, Black would describe “his sex life to Cooper in lurid terms, repeatedly asked her to accompany him to a sex club, made lecherous comments about her body, and begged her to have sex with him.”
Cooper allegedly had to find ways to avoid Black while doing her job, including asking a colleague to monitor the police station’s video camera feed to see if he was at the station.
In another alleged incident, Black showed Cooper “sexually explicit photos of himself and his wife,” the complaint said.
The complaint also said that after Cooper complained and reported the harassment to her supervisor, she faced retaliation through a “campaign of intimidation” in the department. Some of the retaliation Cooper allegedly faced was shunning in the workplace, multiple interrogations by high-ranking department officers and investigations, according to the complaint.
“High-ranking officers purporting to investigate Cooper’s allegations that Black sexually harassed her instead interrogated Cooper about what she might have worn or done that invited Black’s interest in her,” the complaint said. In addition, when the department completed an investigative report of Cooper’s complaints, the report concluded that the sexual harassment she described was “nothing more than consensual interactions.”
In May 2023, Cooper learned that Black would return to duty following his suspension, which came due to the department’s investigation into Cooper’s claims, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that the retaliation by other officers eventually led Cooper to leave the department. She took a job as a dispatcher for the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia.
“Unfortunately, sexual harassment is still a prevalent issue in modern workplaces, especially for women working in male-dominated environments,” Linda Correia, attorney and co-founder of the law firm representing Cooper, said in the release.
The resolution of the case, she said, “sends a clear message to employers that sexual harassment and retaliation will not be tolerated in our community, and especially by the very members of law enforcement tasked with protecting the citizens of Maryland.”
