Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal
A judge awarded a former sex crimes investigator more than $1.4 million after finding the city failed to accommodate her disability, but rejected her and her two coworkers’ claims that they were retaliated against under the Whistleblowers Protection Act.
Judge Nancy Franchini determined the three sex crime investigators failed to prove the city retaliated against them for raising concerns that their supervisor stymied their work clearing the rape kit backlog, implementing trauma-informed interview techniques and investigating serial rapists.
Franchini also determined that the Albuquerque Police Department failed to accommodate Teresa Caryn Romero’s post traumatic stress disorder – which she had developed from her work in the Violent Crimes Division and the Sex Crimes Unit.
Romero was awarded $1,087,000 for her emotional distress and $330,193 to make up for her economic losses. The combined $1.4 million is “a wonderful credit to the reality of the anguish of the loss of her ability to be a sex crimes detective and anguish about the betrayal of the department,” her attorney said.
The ruling comes after a five-day trial in 2nd Judicial District Court last month.
Franchini issued her findings and conclusions of law in writing on Thursday.
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