A Honolulu police officer filed a lawsuit against the department Friday alleging whistleblower retaliation after she reported male training academy staff who allegedly discriminated against female recruits and engaged in sexual relations with others.

The civil action, filed Friday in Oahu Circuit Court, also names the city and Lt. Bienvenido Villaflor II, Maj. Paul Okamoto and Maj. Manuel Hernandez III, who all were assigned to the Honolulu Police Department’s Ke Kula Makai training academy in Waipahu at the time the alleged discrimination took place between May 2022 and September 2023.

Sgt. Sheri Taflinger was assigned to the training academy and was in charge of the 207th recruit class and the Field Training and Evaluation Program. FTEP takes new recruits out into patrol districts and pairs them with on-duty officers.

Villaflor, Okamoto and Hernandez allegedly engaged in “pervasive discrimination, sexual harassment, sex discrimination and whistle blower retaliation” against Taflinger.

Villaflor is allegedly the subject of five sexual harassment complaints and was reassigned to police District 4, which covers Kaneohe, Kailua and Kahuku.

The lawsuit also alleges “gender discrimination, sexual harassment, pervasive over-sexualization of female officers and HPD sponsored sex orgies and subsequent retaliation” against Taflinger for reporting illegal behavior and violations of HPD policies and standards of conduct.

Retaliation from the department led to Taflinger being transferred to the night watch in Patrol District 8, which covers West Oahu, according to the complaint.

“The Honolulu Police Department takes all allegations seriously,” said Michelle Yu, HPD spokesperson, in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We will be working with city attorneys to address the lawsuit.”

Taflinger told the Star-­Advertiser that as a dedicated 20-year veteran of HPD who has provided almost 18 years of field and academy training to recruits, it is “disheartening that I was not protected by those sworn to do so from discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation for speaking up about a long history of covered-up culture of female discrimination; quid pro quo incidents on female personnel, especially recruits; countless uncomfortable situations with male personnel; and made to feel powerless by male commanders or supervising officers who devalue the female sworn personnel’s’ skills, expertise, decisions, and opinions.”

“In fact, the HPD decided to silence me by removing me from my position, reassigning me, and subjecting me and my staff to an unwarranted and false targeted criminal investigation,” she said. “If I did not speak up about this and against those who have been trying to sweep it under the rug, what would that say to my teenage daughter, fellow female officers, and all the future recruit applicants of HPD? I felt it was my obligation as a supervisor and female to stand up for what is right … and being right is not always the popular thing.”

In 2022, Taflinger reported to her command that “male ranking officers showing sexual attention” to certain female recruits was resulting in those recruits getting more chances to pass the department’s physical fitness assessment, according to the lawsuit.

On May 3, 2022, Taflinger allegedly overheard Villaflor, one of her superiors at the academy, “spreading defamatory and untrue statements” about Taflinger and another female officer assigned to the training division, including that they were against female recruits and didn’t like “Haole girls.”

Taflinger reported the comments to her captain at the time, who did not address the issue, according to the complaint.

On Aug. 7, 2022, as Taf­linger worked to assemble her staff to run the 207th recruit class and FTEP program, Villaflor allegedly told her she “could not have two females on a class staff.”

“Taflinger, was shocked at this open gender discrimination, and tried to plead her case” for the female officer she wanted on staff “but was expressly ordered that she could not have her on the staff because she was a woman,” the complaint alleges.

The female officer tasked with leading the 208th class tried to bring the same female officer on board and was also allegedly told she could not have two women on the same recruit staff, according to the civil action.

Taflinger alleges that she and others learned that two female recruits in the 203rd recruit class engaged in sexual relations with male supervisors during a party at a Waimanalo beach house.

She also learned that Villaflor was allegedly having a “sexual relationship” with a female recruit and “ordered all the female officers to be quiet and stop raising concerns about it.”

“This made Mrs. Taflinger extremely uncomfortable and frustrated because HPD has a clear Standard of Conduct and fraternization policy at the Training Academy,” read the complaint. “These sexual incidents where female recruits were being sexually exploited were swiped under the rug.”

Villaflor then allegedly passed out his mobile phone number and told the 203rd recruit class that they could ignore the chain of command and speak directly to him, passing over Taflinger, who was a sergeant.

In November 2022, Hernandez, then a captain, sent an email to the entire training division “stating that moving forward any class parties that involve alcohol were not allowed.”

“Major Hernandez was briefed regarding all the illegal discriminatory orders issued by Lt. Villaflor and regarding all of the sexual harassment and retaliatory incidents committed by Lt. Villaflor, who made everyone uncomfortable … But, Major Hernandes failed to institute any meaningful change,” according to the lawsuit filed Friday.

Villaflor allegedly ordered Taflinger to pass female recruits who were not up to standard to further “his personal recruitment of potential future sexual partners from the female recruit pool.”

Taflinger felt she had to listen to Villaflor or risk being reassigned away from the female recruits she was trying to protect, according to the complaint. Villaflor allegedly openly discussed female recruits’ “sexual life, appearing to be obsessed about others’ sexual lives, regularly bragging about his sexual conquests or how he was popular with the females.”

In March 2023, Taflinger attempted to take her complaints to Okamoto, a captain. Okamoto allegedly would not meet with her without Villaflor present. When Taflinger got her meeting with Okamoto, Villaflor “interjected condescendingly undermining” her “with a hostile tone.”

“Taflinger remained seated in her seat with her head down, shaking in fear,” according to the complaint.