Tennessee police officer Maegan Hall is claiming she is a victim of the alleged sexual misconduct that got her fired. Hall has broken her silence after news broke of a sex scandal involving multiple fellow cops within her department and says she was “sexually groomed” by her superiors.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Maegan Hall told WTVF that she repeatedly attempted to thwart the sexual advances of Sgt. Lewis Powell at the La Vergne Police Department, but added “he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Hall – who is married – said the affair with Sgt. Powell eventually led to sexual relationships with five other cop after she “gave in from the pressure.”
“I know what most people are saying,” Hall told the outlet. “You know, ‘You could’ve said no.’ I get it. But my response to them is ‘I did say no, and he wouldn’t take it for an answer.’ Eventually, I gave in from pressure.”
On Monday, Hall filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department and several members of its top brass, with Hall claiming she was “sexually groomed.”
The 26-year-old blamed the workplace trysts on her troubled marriage, and added that she was specifically targeted by the department’s second shift of which she worked, which was otherwise an all-male unit.
She said that the department “described the environment as a family” when she was interviewing for the job, but that when it came down to it, they were “not protecting me,” the outlet reports.
“When I was interviewing for the position at La Vergne Police Department, they described the environment as a family,” she told the outlet. “However, while I was aspiring to protect my community, the La Vergne Police Department was not protecting me.”
Hall and four other officers have since been fired, including Police Chief Burrel “Chip” Davis who is accused of contributing to the sexual harassment, while two others were suspended over the raunchy sex scandal.
Hall went on to accuse her supervisors of working together to “take advantage of my vulnerabilities and mental health” issues to elicit sexual favors.
“My supervisors worked together to take advantage of my vulnerabilities and my mental health,” Hall said. “And they used it for their gain and sexual favor.
She added that she had no recourse in protecting herself “when the chief of police is sexually harassing you.”
“Who do you even turn to when the chief of police is sexually harassing you? How could I get justice when the entire system, including the chief, not only condoned such behavior but participated in it?” she said. “I was lost and I felt alone.”
Hall said that before the scandal went public, she “received harassing and threatening messages on my phone daily.”
“I felt like I was terrorized,” she said. “I had no one to run to and I had nowhere to go,” she said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the city of La Vergne told the New York Post that they do not discuss pending litigation and declined to comment on Hall’s lawsuit.
“Maegan wasn’t looked at like a rookie cop to be trained and promoted,” Hall’s lawyer, Wesley Clark, told WTVF. “She was looked at like a piece of meat to be sexualized and exploited.”
This is a developing story. Be sure to check in with The Shade Room for more updates as they come.
