San Mateo County pays $8M for sex harassment suit

Barker’s lawyers said that during almost two years of litigation, documents and depositions of 21 current and former employees of the Sheriff’s Office revealed that Barker — who they said is a UC Berkeley graduate, Medal of Honor recipient and only the second woman to qualify for the county’s SWAT team — was subjected to sexual harassment by her SWAT team supervisor, Andre Moniot.

Barker alleged the harassment and discrimination began shortly after Barker joined the SWAT team in 2018 and included Moniot making frequent vulgar comments about Barker’s body, telling Barker and others that he wanted to have sex with her, instructing Barker to wear revealing clothing during team workouts, touching Barker inappropriately, requiring Barker to ride alone with him to and from SWAT functions, and eventually assaulting Barker at a SWAT team gathering in October 2021.

Barker’s attorneys said the Sheriff’s Office employees testified they reported Moniot’s sexual harassment of Barker to multiple high-ranking officers in the department, but they did nothing to investigate the allegations or protect Barker until after she filed the lawsuit.

The attorneys also said testimony revealed as of early 2021 — several months before Moniot allegedly sexually assaulted Barker — at least five high-ranking officers were aware Moniot was sexually harassing Barker but failed to intervene.

They said Moniot testified he wouldn’t have sexually assaulted Barker if anyone in a leadership position told him Barker and others reported his sexual harassment of her.

Barker’s lawyers said the department didn’t investigate the allegations until a retiring high-level officer notified the internal affairs department in August 2022.

Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gretchen Spiker said the department “is aware of the settlement relating to incidents that occurred years ago under the previous sheriff.”

“Sheriff Corpus is committed to improving the culture of the Sheriff’s Office by prioritizing accountability and implementing higher standards — setting the tone that misconduct will not be tolerated under her watch,” Spiker said. “Because this is a lawsuit involving a personnel matter, we are unable to comment any further.”

Barker took a leave of absence from the SWAT team in September 2022 to avoid having to attend the same SWAT team function where Moniot allegedly assaulted her the previous year and where Moniot was expected to be in attendance that year.

Barker resigned from the SWAT team in November 2022 after the county still failed to do anything to protect Barker from Moniot, according to Barker’s attorneys. That was the same month she filed her lawsuit.

Barker’s attorneys said when the lawsuit became public, members of the SWAT team threatened to resign if Moniot wasn’t immediately put on a leave of absence. They also said other women allegedly victimized by men at the Sheriff’s Office also contacted Barker and her attorneys to share their own experiences of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Note to readers: This story has been changed to reflect that the current sheriff had no knowledge of the situation.