Detective reported sergeant husband abused her — then she had to resign, CA suit says
A San Diego detective was forced to resign last year after she reported her husband, a fellow officer, physically abused her during a “horrific” night of domestic violence, according to her lawsuit against the city.
Toward the end of Allyson Ford’s 17-year career, the lawsuit says the San Diego Police Department took part in a cover-up to protect her then-husband and pushed her out of her position with an “unbearably hostile” work environment.
The lawsuit details a “stunning series of retaliatory acts” taken against Ford and a work culture that allows female employees to be discriminated against and harassed.
“Put simply, (the San Diego Police Department) is a boys’ club, where women are second-class subordinates who face punitive retaliation for speaking out against systemic injustice,” a complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court says.
When Ford was 16, she joined the department as a voluntary cadet in 2000. She began her decorated career on San Diego’s police force after graduating from the department’s cadet program in 2007, according to the complaint.
In 2014, she was named “Officer of the Year.”
“I wholeheartedly believed in the San Diego Police Department,” Ford said at a Jan. 6 news conference, according to KNSD.
“But in April 2020, my belief was shattered.”
That month, her husband assaulted her inside their Escondido home after she told him she wanted a divorce in March 2020, according to the complaint. The assault followed “years of abuse, threats (and) infidelity,” the lawsuit says.
“That night, he actually said to me that I was going to lose my job with the San Diego Police Department because of the power he had on the department, and his friends and contacts,” Ford said at the news conference, according to KSWB.
After Ford called police, the department interfered with the investigation, hid evidence, stalked and harassed Ford and caused her to be internally investigated twice in retaliation, the lawsuit says.
Ford, who now lives in Pinellas County, Florida, is suing the city of San Diego and 20 unnamed defendants on multiple causes of action, including wrongful termination, gender discrimination and retaliation.
The city attorney’s office declined McClatchy News’ request for comment Jan. 7, as it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The San Diego Police Department didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
The assault
The night of April 9, 2020, Ford received multiple “drunk texts” from her husband while she was away from home and learned he drove intoxicated with their son, who was 2 years old, according to the lawsuit.
She returned home and found the couch overturned, a hole in the wall and Ford “acting erratically,” according to the complaint.
After Ford wanted to leave the house with their son, the complaint says Ford threatened to beat her, then shoved her into a wall and hit her in the face. He bruised her face, under her eye, according to the complaint.
He made several more threats against Ford, threatening to “shoot it out” with her and having her fired, the complaint says.
About four hours later, Ford escaped to their bedroom where she hid in a closet and called Escondido police, according to the complaint.
After Escondido Police Department officers responded, two San Diego police lieutenants arrived and took over the investigation outside their jurisdiction, the complaint says.
Ford’s husband wasn’t arrested and no evidence was collected due to “pressure and influence” from the lieutenants, according to the complaint.
The Escondido Police Department didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
The San Diego Police Department opened a “woefully inadequate” internal affairs investigation into the domestic violence incident, according to the complaint.
“SDPD looked after Sgt. Ford on account of his male gender,” the complaint says.
‘No choice but to resign’
The department’s “only purported corrective action” against her husband was putting him on paid administrative leave, according to the complaint.
After a court granted Ford’s request for a restraining order against her husband, he was ordered to turn in his weapons, the complaint says.
The San Diego Police Department is accused of refusing to serve her husband with the restraining order and letting him keep his firearms.
“SDPD further retaliated against Plaintiff, for reporting Sgt. Ford in connection with the domestic violence incident and seeking the restraining order, on an ongoing and continuous basis,” the complaint says.
The retaliation included the department trying to deprive Ford of Family and Medical Leave Act benefits, no longer letting her work from home after she regularly worked from her house and internally investigating her, according to the complaint.
At the news conference, attorney John Gomez, who represents Ford, said in a quote captured by KSWB that “we believe the evidence in this case will prove that instead of investigating her complaints, they dismissed her reports, and instead of protecting her and her young son, enabled her husband to avoid the consequences, retain his firearms, violate restraining orders and continued to threaten and torment her, all the while acting as an active duty police officer.”
In October 2023, police Capt. Alberto Leos, a longtime San Diego officer, announced he was suing the department, accusing it of corruption and discrimination, KFMB reported. He retained Gomez as his attorney.
“It’s true in our department we have nepotism, bullying and preferential treatment,” Leos said at the conference, according to the TV station.
Ford is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and demands a jury trial with her lawsuit.
“I really tried to stay and I tried to make it work, but the environment became so toxic I had no choice but to resign,” Ford said, KFMB reported.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Detective reported sergeant husband abused her — then she had to resign, CA suit says."
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