GILA COUNTY — Longtime sheriff’s department employee Duarte resigns after investigation.

Lieutenant Christine Duarte resigned from the Gila County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) in January after an internal investigation found she had violated policy, creating a hostile work environment and sending inappropriate messages on a cell phone provided by the county.

Additionally, after being placed on administrative leave on Oct. 3, 2017 Duarte discussed the investigation with a colleague after she was specifically ordered not to do so.

The Gila County Human Resources department interviewed 17 witnesses to the alleged actions, reviewing records that included text messages sent on her county-issued phone. A report was released on Dec. 22, 2017.

The investigation centers on allegations made by two of Duarte’s subordinates regarding behavior that began in mid - 2017.

In June of that year, an employee of GCSO publicly disclosed his sexual orientation to Duarte and Detention Commander Major Justin M. Solberg, who informed the employee that no harassment would be tolerated.

But Duarte began to make disparaging remarks to the employee in the presence of other officers and spoke about it in public in the presence of others outside the department on at least one occasion. She would also play the Diana Ross song “I’m Coming Out,” and state that it was “(the employee’s) song,” although when questioned during the investigation Duarte denied playing the song to embarrass or call attention the employee’s sexual orientation.

On several occasions, she also referred to the employee as “Puddin,” “known to be a gay term of endearment used by a homosexual inmate at the jail.” Witnesses reported she also made several disparaging remarks referring to anal sex or asked the employee’s opinions of the desirability of individuals or inmates.

The investigation found Duarte’s actions in violation of several policies including Equal Employment Opportunity policy BOS-HRS-110 prohibiting unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation and BOS-HRS-120, a code of conduct for county employees.

BOS-HRS-110 states, in part, that “each employee has the right to: (1) work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits unlawful discriminatory practices, including harassment and retaliation; and (2) the responsibility to help maintain such a professional atmosphere.”

“Lt. Duarte is and has been for years a supervisor, from whom more is expected than a line employee,” the report states. “A supervisor is obliged to model and set the bar on what constitutes appropriate work-related conduct, and based on the information gathered in the investigation, it was clear that Lt. Duarte did not behave professionally and conduct herself commensurate with her position and responsibilities as a supervisor.”

A second employee who had a personal relationship outside of the department with Duarte also alleged harassing behavior that began after the employee was promoted in May 2017.

The investigation found that Duarte “did not maintain appropriate supervisory boundaries with subordinate employees, and the personal and professional lives of Duarte and … a number of … GCSO employees were comingled to a significant degree.”

Witnesses within the department reported that Duarte’s attitude toward the employee changed after the promotion, leading Duarte to closely scrutinize and criticize the employee in front of other staff members, including telling the employee, “if she could not do her job she should turn in her badge, or words to that effect,” according to the report. 

Additionally, she ridiculed the employee for decisions made and on more than one occasion sent unflattering photos or videos of the employee to other staff members and showed photos to an inmate.

“What is critical in the evaluation of the allegation is the fact that the comments by Lt. Duarte were made in the presence of others, when appropriate supervisory behavior would have been to handle performance issues behind closed doors, and not in a public venue in front of other staff,” the report concludes.

According to Gila County Sheriff Adam Shepherd, this was the first formal complaint against Duarte, to his knowledge, but in the interest of maintaining a harassment-free workplace the GCSO took the allegations seriously. 

“It is our stated purpose here to provide a harassment-free workplace where people can come and put in their time and not be harassed by either fellow employees or supervisors or even the inmates that are in the jail,” he said. “So we want to try to keep all the people here at least happy and we want to be here and we want them to be free of any harassment.”

While Duarte did not face the prospect of termination from the department at the time of her suspension and subsequent resignation, that outcome was a possibility as the process played out.

“The Police Officer Bill of Rights in Arizona (Arizona Revised Statutes: Title 38: Public Officers and Employees) has a very substantial and very restrictive process that agencies must go through to get to serious discipline,” he said. “It applies to police officers; it applies to detention officers, and probation officers, so it’s not handled out of this office.”

Shepherd added that due to the complexities of discrimination cases, they are deferred to the county human resources department. Other types of cases, such as operational errors by an officer, are handled internally and on a constant basis to conform to Title 38.

In a letter of resignation dated Jan. 8. 2018, Duarte stated the her 15 years with the department “were fulfilling and (she) appreciated the opportunities (she) had.”

Attempts by Silver Belt staff to contact Duarte for comment were not answered.

Duarte, daughter of Miami Council member and former mayor Rosemary Castaneda, joined the department in 2003 and in 2013 was promoted to detention officer Lieutenant after receiving “Supervisor of the Year in the State of Arizona” from the Arizona Detention Association.