A pioneering female SWAT cop has alleged her male colleagues bullied her out of the unit after she refused to let them hold her down and bite her butt as part of a hazing ritual.
Officer Perla Dominguez, a 14-year-veteran of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), has alleged in a lawsuit that her fellow cops verbally and sexually harassed her for years, leading her to ask for a reassignment.
Dominguez, who was the city's only female SWAT cop, claimed that she 'was subjected to sex-based harassment and hazing' and 'was ostracized and retaliated against after reporting it' over several years after her appointment in 2018.
The lawsuit, filed against the City of San Antonio, refers to a hazing ritual in which new officers of the SAPD SWAT team are held down and bitten on the rear by other members.
New recruits are also allegedly expected to get a lightning bolt tattoo. But Dominguez said she found the ritual 'sexually degrading' and the tattoo 'offensive,' the suit says.
The lawsuit alleged that Captain Jamie Trevino said at a 2022 leadership training event that the tattoo is about 'loyalty and trust,' a comment Dominguez felt was a personal remark about her refusal to take part in the hazing.
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, she claimed to have been harassed while in a changing area and subjected to discrimination for being a member of the LGBTQ community.
In February 2022, Dominguez 'requested a temporary assignment at the SAPD Training Academy,' which was granted, the lawsuit says. She is now seeking to recoup 'lost compensation' associated with the SWAT team. She is also seeking compensation for the alleged discrimination she suffered.
Officer Perla Dominguez (pictured) is suing the City of San Antonio for alleged discrimination
Dominguez allegedly suffered discrimination while working for the San Antonio Police Department (pictured), according to the lawsuit
Dominguez has asked the court to be reinstated to the SWAT team, receive back pay for lost wages and compensatory damages under federal anti-discrimination laws.
On top of this, she has asked for the court to prevent the city and police department from 'engaging in the unlawful practices described' in the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Dominguez was selected as the city's only SWAT officer in 2018 and performed her duties 'competently.'
She was forced to change in the women's bathroom at the unit's facility. As there had been no female SWAT members before her, men had been using it, and continued to do so even after she had asked them to stop, the suit states.
In February 2019, a male SWAT officer walked in as she was partially undressed, the lawsuit claims. Later, Sergeant Frank Gutierrez confronted her in front of others about why she needed her own restroom, seemingly 'annoyed' by her request, it continues.
She was later given a key to the bathroom to protect her privacy, but in 2020 Captain Miles Earwood allegedly asked her to put it somewhere so male colleagues could access it, which Dominguez declined, the lawsuit claims.
After she was given a key to lock the door, Officer Greg Cummins allegedly told her: 'The moment you leave that door open, I'm going to take a s*** in your sink,' according to the suit.
Male SWAT members continued to harass her about restroom access, the suit states.
In 2021, the lawsuit claims, SAPD officers Salvador Hernandez and Marshall Davis repeatedly pressured her into undergoing the hazing ritual.
Hernandez allegedly told her that her refusal was causing the SWAT team to question her loyalty, the lawsuit continues.
Later that year, after Dominguez, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, told her colleagues she and her wife were expecting twin boys, she found a used condom in her locker, the suit claims.
An investigation was launched, which she said included her being put through a polygraph test.
Despite this, the ex-SWAT cop said the city has not identified or disciplined the person who put the used prophylactic in her personal area.
In November of that year, two of Dominguez's coworkers 'made derogatory comments about a nonbinary public figure and that "they're ALL f***** up," the lawsuit claims.
She 'found the comments offensive and believed they were intended to provoke a reaction from her,' it continues. After reporting the comments, the city did not take any action, she claims.
A lawsuit claims that Officer Greg Cummins (pictured) told the female SWAT cop: 'The moment you leave that door open, I'm going to take a s*** in your sink'
After she was given a key to the female bathroom, Captain Miles Earwood (pictured) asked her to put it somewhere so male colleagues could access it, according to the lawsuit
Marshall Davis (pictured) was also said to have pressured the female cop into undergoing the initiation ritual, the lawsuit added
In 2022, she said, Sergeant Frank Gutierrez gave her a performance review that claimed she was carrying out her duties 'below expectations,' described her as 'annoyed' and suggested she see psychological services.
But, according to the lawsuit, the same evaluation said she was meeting all expectations.
When Dominguez refused to sign this evaluation, Gutierrez is said to have left the room and come back with a revised version that said she was meeting expectations, with the comments about psychological services omitted.
The revised version also described her as 'distracted' instead of 'annoyed,' the lawsuit claims.
Asked why the first version had been prepared in the first place, Gutierrez said: 'I don't know.'
She eventually left the SWAT service, citing the alleged harassment and hostility she experienced, and moved to the SAPD Training Academy.
She in 2018 became the city's first official female SWAT officer following a rigorous training period.
In a 2018 interview with local media, she said she worked incredibly hard to gain a place on the team.
She told KENS5: 'I definitely put in a lot of time in my training. I've been working out and practicing the things that I knew I needed to improve on previous tryouts.
'It's definitely an elite team and I look forward to contributing to the team. I look forward to being a sponge and absorbing everything that they have to teach and putting it into practice.'
Officials said at the time that while another woman, Holly Vizcarrando, had joined the SWAT team before Dominguez, she was the 'first female to successfully complete the rigorous, formal tryout process.'
The Daily Mail has contacted the San Antonio Police Department and Dominguez's attorney for comment.
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