Former Scott County jailer accuses Sheriff Wes Drury, top staff of discrimination

A former Scott County jailer -- who said she was wrongly accused of smuggling illegal drugs to inmates, strip searched and forced to resign -- has filed a discrimination complaint against Sheriff Wes Drury and his administration.

Sandra "Sandy" Alvarado of Loundes, Missouri, filed a "discrimination charge" Wednesday with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.

It accuses Drury and his top staff of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. It is the second discrimination case involving Drury and the sheriff's department to have been filed with the state's Human Rights Commission within the past two years. That case led to a pending lawsuit.

Drury did not respond Thursday to emailed requests for comment.

The latest complaint is the first step toward filing a lawsuit, according to Alvarado's attorney, J.P. Clubb, who also is handling the other case.

The 51-year-old Alvarado wrote in her complaint she worked for the sheriff's department for about two years before resigning June 18 after she was first told she was fired.

Starting in March, jail administrator Amy Johnson and assistant security director Misty Slezak "began harassing me and subjecting me to a hostile work environment because of my gender."

According to Alvarado, the two jail officials are lesbians and married to each other.

She wrote Johnson "repeatedly criticized me for behaviors that she deemed unacceptable when I engaged in them, but perfectly acceptable when a male jailer engaged in them," Alvarado wrote.

She added Johnson twice demoted her for conduct for which other employees were not disciplined or demoted.

"In March 2019, the sheriff and the jail were experiencing problems with inmates possessing contraband, including illegal drugs," wrote Alvarado.

"Johnson and Slezak, with the approval of Drury, Capt. Dane Stausing, Det. Andrew Dooley and Capt. Ron Merideth, tried to blame their problems in running the jail on me," Alvarado wrote.

"Eventually, with no evidence whatsoever, they accused me of smuggling in illegal drugs to inmates," she wrote.

She denied the accusations.

"Johnson then proceeded to humiliate me by forcing me to undergo a strip search at her direction and in front of her," according to the written statement.

During the search, Alvarado said she and Johnson were alone.

"Johnson forced me to take down my pants. I was so embarrassed and felt her appraising stare was of a sexual nature. Then she instructed me to pull down my panties. I objected and told her I was on my period and could not easily pull down my panties," she wrote.

According to Alvarado, she was ordered to pull down her panties, which she did. "I started crying and begging to be allowed to pull my panties up. Johnson, after several moments, allowed me to do so," she wrote.

According to the complaint, Alvarado was forced to lift her shirt and bra, exposing her breasts.

"She (Johnson) stared at my breasts in a lascivious way and made me stand that way for much longer than was necessary for her to see that I was not smuggling anything," she wrote.

"I felt sick, violated, embarrassed, humiliated, fearful and demoralized by this event," she added.

The search confirmed she was not concealing any contraband, according to the statement.

After the strip search, Alvarado complained to Johnson, Slezak and other members of Drury's command staff, the statement recounted.

Alvarado wrote her complaints were not investigated and they "did nothing to remedy the sexual harassment, gender discrimination and hostile work environment they had created."

She was given a termination letter June 18, which, according to Alvarado, "contained a litany of false information" about her work performance.

But after questioning if her firing was in retaliation for her complaints, Merideth stated he would be willing to let her resign, according to the written statement.

"Professional reputation is vitally important in the field of law enforcement, and I did not want to have a termination on my record. I had no choice but to resign or face career suicide," she wrote.

Alvarado added she was provided a letter of recommendation from Stausing after she agreed to resign.

According to the complaint filed with the commission, gender "was a contributing and motivating factor" in the decisions to harass and demote Alvarado and "fire" her.

Alvarado wrote, "It is well known within the law enforcement community that Sheriff Drury and his male deputies have made sexist remarks about women employees."

She wrote she is seeking compensatory damages, including back wages and compensation for "pain, humiliation, suffering, emotional distress."

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