Sheriff’s Office continues to be a workplace of insults, a new lawsuit claims.

If it were not so serious, some of the allegations made by career cop Rosy Silva might work as laugh lines in a cringe comedy, emphasis on the cringe. Her description of enduring sexual harassment and retaliation in her 12 years working at the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office paints a picture of failure to stop problem behavior, and also a culture of gossip, backstabbing and retaliation.

Silva’s lawsuit focuses on husband-wife team Mike Smith (a commander) and Rebecca Smith (a captain). In 2019 she worked alongside Mike as a detective, one of her many assignments in the Sheriff’s Office. The suit lists a litany of detailed remarks he allegedly made about her body – about her breasts, her nipples, her vagina, her shape during pregnancy – and a long list of colleagues who allegedly overheard parts of it.

Some of them, Silva claims, advised Mike Smith along the way to stop. But the comments continued, and so did alleged retribution by his wife.

“This was happening out in the open. It wasn’t in a closet or a hallway when no one was watching or listening,” Silva says in an interview.

She kept her head down for years, afraid that filing complaints would come back to bite her. It was a culture she learned to endure from the minute she started in 2010. That was two sheriffs ago, under Scott Miller. Then came the Steve Bernal administration, then Tina Nieto, the first woman sheriff in Monterey County history, a milestone which Silva says she hoped might mark a turning point. Silva says it did not.

She faced some petty punishments, like when she claims Rebecca Smith reassigned her from a large locker to a small locker that could not fit her rifle.

Silva brought that issue to the top and met with Nieto. “I don’t want to hear any drama,” Nieto allegedly said. “I don’t care if someone doesn’t like you or if you don’t like someone.”

In an ideal world, people could coexist in workplaces even if they don’t like each other – it’s certainly not a requirement. But they should be able to coexist with dignity and professionalism.

Eventually, after she was denied promotions and opportunities for additional compensation, Silva (now working as a sergeant who supervises bailiffs) decided it was time to come forward. She sued the County of Monterey and Mike Smith and Rebecca Smith on Sept. 5. (Initial responses filed in court by attorneys representing the County, Mike Smith and Rebecca Smith all deny all of the allegations in the lawsuit.)

She was identified as Jane Doe, but Silva claims that after she sued, the retribution got worse. She followed up with a subsequent claim against the County of Monterey filed on Dec. 8. There, she details “the old desk supplies incident” – a complaint about materials she left in the property crimes division in 2023 – and a colleague who stopped speaking to her. There is the “office photo incident,” in which she claims she was deliberately left out of a team photo for a county newsletter. (Cringe comedy comes with at least a chuckle.)

There was an alleged prohibition on Silva sharing intelligence with other law enforcement agencies without prior approval, despite her supervisory role over courthouse bailiffs, which Silva claims “is affecting public safety and operational security.” Corrections Chief Timothy Lanquist allegedly screamed at her in front of other sergeants and blamed an anonymous X account, “Deputy Dogg,” for sharing details of the case. (The anonymous account, which they describe to me in a message as “a collaboration,” posted Silva’s lawsuit.)

Citing county policy on pending litigation, representatives of the Sheriff’s Office declined to speak about any details of the case. But Nieto spoke in general about the impact of anonymous social media accounts like Deputy Dogg. “There’s no guardrails or accountability,” she says. “It’s lies and rumors. I’m good to have conversation, debate, differences of opinion. My concern is that this is becoming normal for the next generation, they don’t debate and it just becomes name-calling.” (Deputy Dogg calls Tina Nieto “Tuna” – more playground insults.)

It’s easy to post anonymous insults on social media. It should not be easy to demean and harass coworkers in any workplace, particularly among officers of the law, who are expected to set a high standard.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com