Alabama Town Agrees to Pay $150,000 to Settle Suit

An Alabama city has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a former police sergeant who claims she’s been excluded from the department’s “good-old-boy network.”

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that the deal avoids a trial, which was set to begin this week in federal court in Opelika.

Phenix City police Sgt. Christina J. Presley, a 14-year veteran of the force, sued the city because she says she lost an impending promotion and was suspended in 2009 for disobeying orders and refusing to jail a man suspected of second-degree assault with a box cutter. Presley says she couldn’t in good conscience jail the man because the investigation revealed he acted in self-defense.

Officials say Presley resigned from the department as part of the settlement.