FMPD trainee files harassment complaint

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A former Fort Myers police officer is considering suing the police department after exposing alleged sexual harassment by her training officer.

Oscar Basora was fired by the department for having sex while on duty. Basora visited an apartment complex while his training officer waited in her patrol vehicle, said Benjamin Yormak, an employment attorney representing the former female officer.

“Officer Basora was not only busy with a sexual relationship with another lady, but he was also trying to initiate a sexual relationship with my client,” said Yormak, who has filed a sexual harassment complaint against the department to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “When that failed, he didn’t care about her. He didn’t care about training. He just cared about his own pursuits.”

The former female officer was granted a request for a new training officer, but resigned after making the sexual harassment claims, Yormak said.

“We should not have been paying an officer to have sex on duty while he’s supposed to be training an officer and serving the taxpayers,” he said. “It’s reprehensible.”

City officials are looking into why the former female officer resigned, said Grant Alley, Fort Myers city attorney.

“We welcome any employee who is sexually harassed to let us know,” he said. “We have a zero tolerance for that and will investigate it and review it thoroughly. As far as the specifics of this complaint, we are investigating it.”