A sexting scandal at the Columbus Division of Police has led to a federal lawsuit.
A female officer is suing the city of Columbus and administrators in the police department.
Officer Tricia Zimmerman admits sending her boyfriend, also a Columbus police officer, nude photos of herself.
She says the pictures were sent to and from their personal phones, taken while off-duty.
In a federal lawsuit, Zimmerman says her boyfriend's estranged wife got ahold of his phone, and took it to Columbus Police Internal Affairs, alleging the two had had sex while on duty.
Court Documents: Zimmerman's Filing | Lazar's Filing | Columbus Police Response
The suit claims Internal Affairs investigated and found the allegation to be unsubstantiated, but during the course of their investigation, Zimmerman says internal investigators printed and shared the nude photos with officers who were uninvolved in the investigation. It its response to the suit, the city denies that allegation.
She says she was subjected to unprofessional and degrading comments by supervising officers, including jokes about sending her photos into magazines.
She says when she complained about what she deemed a hostile work environment; she was retaliated against in the form of loss of overtime and duty assignments, an allegation the city also denies.
In the suit, she alleges Police administrators up to and including the Chief of Police knew of this and failed to act.
The result, she says, is emotional and economic harm to her and her reputation.
Tonight the city and division will only say they do not comment on pending litigation.
Zimmerman’s boyfriend, Officer Jeffrey Lazar has also filed a related federal lawsuit.
In it, he alleges internal affairs didn’t have a warrant to search his cell phone, violating his fourth amendment rights. Both officers are seeking unspecified damages.