Gay Veteran Trooper Sued After His Coworkers Makes His Life Impossible

The Georgia Department of Public Safety oversees the day-to-day operations of the Georgia State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, and Capitol Police.

 These Troopers there in what century do they live in? Don't they know there is a price for that behavior II understand they don't give a hoot for the Gay Officer's life or dignity but maybe if there is money to be paid they would understand  how breaking the law works. And No Trump Can't pardon you.

Adam Gonzalez

By Shea Johnson

NewsTribune

A veteran Washington State Patrol trooper claims he’s faced discrimination and hostility in the agency due to his sexual orientation — issues that reportedly reached a breaking point when WSP personnel created and circulated a demeaning video of him generated by artificial intelligence. Collin Overend Pearson, who’s a Pierce County resident and gay, alleges that he’s been subjected to “repeated instances of discriminatory and unconstitutional conduct by WSP and its officers” during nearly two decades of employment, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 19 in Pierce County Superior Court. 

The conduct has damaged his reputation, the complaint said. In a statement Monday, WSP spokesperson Chris Loftis declined to comment on the allegations, citing the agency’s policy and practice regarding pending litigation. “The Washington State Patrol believes that all employees have the right to work in an environment where skills, abilities, and dignity are valued and that is free from bias, harassment, and intimidation,” Loftis said. Pearson is assigned to WSP’s District 1, which covers Pierce and Thurston counties, according to attorney Mark Conrad, who’s representing Pearson. Prior to suing the state, which allegedly failed to take appropriate actions to curb the discrimination and hostility, Pearson filed a legal claim against it late last year that served as a notice for it to put an end to the bad behavior, Conrad said in an interview Monday. “Instead of stopping, the conduct escalated,” Conrad said. In December, WSP personnel created an AI-generated video that depicted Pearson and another uniformed, male trooper kissing on a roadside, the lawsuit claims. 

A voiceover in the video states, “this is SWAT training, no homo,” — using a derogatory phrase that insinuates “homosexuality is inferior or insulting,” according to the suit. Conrad said the video was circulated among troopers and appears real, which is what he believes makes it so damaging beyond it being plainly derogatory and intended to humiliate his client. The deepfake also showed that at least some WSP personnel feel emboldened to engage in conduct demeaning to LGBTQ+ employees, he said. It was the last straw for Pearson, according to Conrad, who said his client had put much thought into a “very difficult” decision to sue. The lawsuit accuses the state, by and through the WSP, of discrimination, retaliation and invasion of privacy, and it seeks unspecified damages to be proven at trial as well as legal fees. Despite the personal nature of the claims within the complaint, it was important to Pearson that he step forward, including by using his full name and not just his initials in the public filing, “to ensure that other people don’t have to face the environment that he’s currently facing,” Conrad said. “This can’t be tolerated in the workplace,” he said. 

The lawsuit cites other alleged instances of discrimination, including when Pearson’s job offer in Des Moines was rescinded after a WSP captain advised the chief of that police department against hiring him, and when WSP detectives investigated an anonymous complaint that accused Pearson of threatening patrons while working off-duty at a Tacoma gay bar. Pearson never worked at the bar, according to Conrad, and the suit said the complainant’s claim against Pearson was deemed to be unfounded. Conrad said he didn’t know the reason why the WSP captain had interfered in Pearson’s career move, nor did he know the status of an internal complaint that Pearson had filed in response. In one instance, when Pearson inadvertently missed work, the WSP reacted more strongly than it did in similar situations involving other troopers, according to the lawsuit. 

Pearson had been out sick for two days in December 2023 and overslept for a shift after his phone died. He didn’t notify his supervisor that he would miss work. A trooper was dispatched to Pearson’s home, where a man who was staying with Pearson answered the door and Pearson was awoken and interrogated by the trooper, according to the suit. Later that day, WSP personnel sent Ruston Police Department officers to conduct an additional check at the home, the suit said. The missed workday prompted a formal months-long WSP investigation that involved outside agencies and included interviews with Pearson’s colleagues and scrutiny of his personal life, according to the suit. Ultimately, it was recommended Pearson be suspended for five days without pay for violations of “neglect of duty” and “use of alcohol — off duty,” the suit said. 

During a hearing on the matter, Washington State Patrol Troopers Association president Spike Unruh objected to the latter violation, arguing that WSP had unlawfully entered Pearson’s home without his consent, according to the suit. “Unruh also presented evidence that numerous troopers had previously overslept and were not subjected to home entry or similar treatment, and that it was not standard practice to involve outside agencies or conduct multiple home visits when a trooper failed to show for one workday,” the suit said. The WSP’s probe “had effectively ‘outed’ Plaintiff’s sexuality to the entire (Office of Professional Standards) section, further compounding the emotional toll of the situation,” the suit said. In August 2024, the WSP acknowledged that the entry into Pearson’s home was illegal and that no information obtained during that entry could be used against him, according to the suit, which said that the agency reclassified the off-duty alcohol violation as “undetermined.”