A former police detective who accused the Riverton Police Department of harboring a hostile work environment and racist tendencies has settled a federal lawsuit he filed in April, court documents show.
Billy Whiteplume, the first enrolled Northern Arapaho Tribal member to become a Riverton police officer, informed the U.S. District Court for Wyoming on Wednesday that he has settled his lawsuit against the agency and city of Riverton.
Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed in the court file as of Monday.
The filing asks the lawsuit “be dismissed with prejudice, with each party to bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees,” reads Whiteplume’s motion, via his attorney Katherine Strike. “The matter has been fully compromised.”
In response, U.S. District Court Judge Kelly Rankin dismissed the case with an order one day later.
RPD Chief Eric Hurtado did not immediately respond Monday to a late-day request for comment.
Riverton Mayor Tim Hancock declined comment.
Whiteplume told Cowboy State Daily he will comment on the matter at a later date.
The Claims
RPD denied Whiteplume’s claims of hostility and racism, in its May response to his complaint.
Whiteplume had alleged in his complaint that while serving RPD as a detective, he tried helping transient people exposed to freezing weather in the late winter or spring 2022 and the following autumn by coordinating between the city and tribal government and trying to get the people into living facilities.
His supervisor reprimanded him Nov. 18, 2022, for helping transient people all day and neglecting his duties, the complaint says.
The supervisor told Whiteplume there were complaints about him spending too much time on the “homeless issue,” but he didn’t produce specific complaints, reportedly.
The supervisor also told Whiteplume to stop his outreach work for the transients, the complaint says.
Whiteplume reportedly saw this and other reprimands against him as discriminatory and retaliatory.
The Drumming Incident
In late 2022, an RPD officer walked into Whiteplume’s office, picked up a pen on his desk and started drumming on a peanut can with it in a rhythm matching the drumming of Native American customs in which Whiteplume also participates, the complaint says.
“Is this why you have this?” asked the officer.
Whiteplume viewed the action as offensive and insulting to his faith and culture.
“Are you for real?” responded Whiteplume, reportedly telling the officer twice to leave his office.
The complaint says Whiteplume reported the incident to his supervisor, who didn’t act on his report.
Some days later, Whiteplume told his supervisor he wanted no contact with the officer. He then met with both his supervisor and the officer’s supervisor to report the drumming incident, the document says, adding that Whiteplume asked the officer’s supervisor to keep the officer away from him.
Later, Whiteplume’s own supervisor asked Whiteplume to “smooth things over” with the officer, a request the complaint characterizes as improper since the officer allegedly sparked the conflict with his drumming and his comment.
Whiteplume met with the human resources director about the drumming incident. A week passed, and the department took no action against the officer, reportedly.
Whiteplume viewed the department’s conduct as intolerable and subjecting him to a discriminatory and hostile work environment. He gave his two weeks’ notice.
Leaving
The HR director urged Whiteplume to speak with the officer about the conflict, and said HR would take further action if this sort of thing happened again, the complaint says.
The filing indicates Whiteplume did not go and talk to the officer about it, saying, “Whiteplume’s responsibilities and duties did not include disciplining or counseling (him).”
Whiteplume told the HR director he didn’t feel safe around the officer; she reportedly told him he could work his last two weeks at home, and he could file a grievance.
But when she left a letter on his desk recounting the drum incident, Whiteplume viewed the letter as “downplaying” the incident and calling it “tapping the drum,” says the complaint.
Whiteplume’s supervisor reportedly told him he wasn’t supposed to work on his cases at night at home, but to close his cases while in the office.
“This directive made Mr. Whiteplume uncomfortable because he would have to be around people who made him uncomfortable,” says the complaint, listing the three other police agents.
The captain called Whiteplume the next day and told him he needed to return to work or he wouldn’t be paid, the complaint says, adding that Whiteplume stayed home anyway because he didn’t feel safe amid the “hostile work environment (that) was increasing in severity.”
Originally, The Ask
Before he settled his case, Whiteplume had asked for money damages for back pay, restored benefits, loss of wages, salary, retirement and all lost income, plus damages for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and future monetary losses.
The terms of his settlement have not yet been released to the public. However in Wyoming generally, government lawsuit settlements are public record.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
