Jenny Twardzik
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS – Police Officer Jenny Twardzik filed a discrimination suit Jan. 17 against the city of Dearborn Heights, former Police Chief Kevin Swope and Director/Interim Police Commissioner Paul Vanderplow.
Swope left the Police Department earlier this year, and on Jan. 6 began serving as the police chief in South Haven.
Twardzik is taking action against the plaintiffs for gender discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended in 2000, and the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
The suit alleges that the Police Department has been significantly male-dominated since 1960, when the city was incorporated; that currently only 6 of its 64 officers are female; and that no female officer since 2016 has held a supervisory position within the department.
In addition, she noted that in that time, only one female officer has ever been assigned to the detective bureau.
Twardzik began her career in law enforcement in 2012 as a police officer with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
In 2016, she joined the DHPD as a road patrol officer, and from 2019 to 2021 served as field training officer.
Seven times between 2020 and 2024, Twardzik said she applied for specialized duty assignments or training designed to distinguish herself as a leader, as well as to prepare herself for promotion, and on all seven occasions, a younger, less qualified male officer was chosen over her.
On Nov. 25, 2023, Swope posted an opening for up to six detectives, and Twardzik applied. Prior to her Dec. 19, 2023, interview, she enrolled in three detective skill education courses: practical kinesics interview and interrogation, basic detective school, and the Reid technique of investigative interviewing and advanced interrogation.
On Dec. 19, 2023, Twardzik was interviewed by Lt. Michael Guzowski and Vanderplow. Eight candidates were interviewed, with Twardzik being the only female officer interviewed.
On Jan. 8, 2024, Vanderplow announced that Police Officers Ahmad Mazloum and Brian Sznyr were selected for detective positions.
Twardzik sought information on the selection process, the creation of an eligibility list, and any type of ranking process used to gain insight from Guzowski, who provided her with none, but said he would pass her request on to Vanderplow, who did not respond.
Twardzik said she was the most experienced officer among those interviewed for the detective bureau positions, had been with DHPD the longest, had more law enforcement experience and was the only candidate who had pursued detective skills and education courses.
On Aug. 24, 2024, Officer Mark Pugh, one of the six interviewees not initially chosen, was selected to join the detective bureau. Pugh had joined DHPD in 2019 with no prior law enforcement experience, and had no prior specialized training or investigative-focused duty assignments.
Twardzik contends that her treatment was based, at least in part, on an unlawful consideration of her gender, and that she was discriminated against.
She also contends that the discrimination has cost her earning capacity, caused mental and emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish and anxiety, and damaged her good name and reputation.
Twardzik is seeking damages and attorney fees, as well as equitable relief, placing her in the position she would have been in if not for the discrimination, with back pay.
She is also seeking an injunction from the court prohibiting any further acts of wrongdoing.
Mayor Bill Bazzi and Vanderplow declined to comment on the case.