Former Miami Beach Sergeant Sues City, Police Chief Over Alleged Sexual Harassment

A former Miami Beach Police Department sergeant is suing the city, the department’s police chief, and a former colleague over alleged years of sexual harassment.

Police Chief Richard Clements, Lt. Steven Cosner, and Sgt. Jessica Guasto was sued by Guasto, who claimed that Cosner had made advances towards her that she had rejected.

Guasto, who was hired by the department in 2012 and later promoted to sergeant in 2017, alleges in her lawsuit that she experienced sexual harassment from multiple MBPD officers to the extent that it was “persistent, severe, and disruptive to her work.”

According to Guasto, a lieutenant allegedly took pictures of her private social media profiles and then advised her to become more of “an extrovert,” a reference that Guasto believes was code for engaging in sexual activity with male officers.

Guasto detailed a toxic work environment that started early in her nine-year tenure when Internal Affairs busted a sergeant for repeatedly driving through her neighborhood while on duty without her knowledge. According to Guasto, her dream job came to an end when Cosner, whose purportedly romantic advances she turned down, launched a fabricated Internal Affairs probe against her. She said that Clements fired her in January of last year based on the probe.

Guasto filed her third complaint against the city with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July, just before she filed her lawsuit. According to a letter granting her the right to sue that the federal agency sent her, the EEOC concluded its investigation into Guasto’s claims on January 3.