Fort Worth police captain files suit against city, accuses police chief of retaliation

A Fort Worth police captain is suing the city, alleging she was harassed, humiliated, retaliated against and demoted by police Chief Neil Noakes.

The suit was filed Wednesday in a Tarrant County district court. The plaintiff, Capt. Paula Conaway, accuses the city of violating the Whistleblower Act due to illegal retaliation and unlawful employment practices under the Texas Labor Code.

The alleged retaliation against Conaway began after she was told by others in command to “let things go and not to rock the boat,” according to the lawsuit.

Conaway refused and insisted on the accountability of the officers she commanded, according to the suit.

“She is ‘by the book’ and believes it is important that the police department’s officers follow laws as well as departmental policies and procedures,” the suit states. “When officers fail to meet these standards, it is imperative that they are held accountable.”

Noakes and the police department declined to provide comment on the lawsuit. The city of Fort Worth’s legal team has not yet responded to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment and has not yet filed a response to the suit.

The claims made in the lawsuit go back to when Conaway was assigned a case in February 2021, where she was to close an internal affairs investigation on a police officer. The investigation began as a result of the officer punching a driver in the face while conducting a traffic stop, according to the lawsuit.

A grand jury declined to indict the officer and the police department had 45 days to complete an internal investigation. The 45 days expired before the case was assigned to Conaway’s chain-of-command for reviewing, the suit states.

Conaway issued a written reprimand to the officer and closed the internal investigation on March 2, 2021.

She was then falsely accused of “targeting” officers after filing the reprimand, the lawsuit says.

From February to June 2021, Conaway received several reviews of incidents committed by another officer who repeatedly displayed questionable conduct. As a result, Conaway recommended the officer to attend retraining in several courses, according to the suit.

When she was told that the officer refused to attend a training session and welcomed an internal affairs investigation, she asked her supervisors to place the officer on desk assignment until completing the training courses.

Several employees began to complain about Conaway to Noakes as well as the Police Officers Association, according to the lawsuit account.

On May 13, 2021, the POA sent an email to its members alleging a “fishing expedition type of body cam audits conducted on certain sides of town,” referencing the South Division where incident reviews were coming from to Conaway’s desk.

“The officers were unhappy that ... Conaway was doing her job and holding them accountable,” the suit states.

Noakes then asked Conaway’s supervisor to investigate the claims made against her. The supervisor intended on sending Noakes an email to correct the accusations, saying there was neither “targeting” or “fishing” from Conaway, but it was never sent, according to the suit.

After requesting to meet with Noakes to discuss the matter, the meeting was canceled with no explanation, according to Conaway’s account, the lawsuit says.

In June 2021, after the canceled meeting, Noakes told Conaway that her supervisor communicated that the findings on reviewing cases did not constitute “targeting.”

This is when Noakes began retaliating against her, the suit states.

Later that month, Noakes informed Conaway that she was being moved to another department. With Conaway being several months into her pregnancy, Noakes said it would be “less stressful” in a slower command, according to the suit.

She questioned the move and expressed that it felt as if she was being disciplined and punished even though she did nothing wrong, the suit states.

The lawsuit further states that Conaway was humiliated and embarrassed during a Women in Law Enforcement Conference in September 2021. In that conference, Noakes acknowledged the female officers who were present, but not Conaway.

While on maternity leave in January 2022, Conaway virtually attended a meeting where transfers for captains and lieutenants were discussed. Noakes waited after the call and went around the room asking each deputy chief which command they wanted to work in.

“It was clear that Chief Noakes intentionally waited until [deputy chief] Conaway disconnected to ask the male [deputy chiefs] this question,” the suit says.

On June 29, 2022, Conaway questioned an approval form she received from a detective who worked 10 hours of overtime. She began looking into the case because executive staff were expected to be “judicious” with spending, according to the suit. She discovered detectives and members of the department’s SWAT team used force on a woman in that case, seized her phone without a warrant, and arrested her without probable cause or a warrant, violating the woman’s constitutional rights, according to the lawsuit.

In response to the questioning, Conaway’s chain-of-command officers complained about her to Noakes, the POA, and the Denton County district attorney.

They went after Conaway “in retaliation,” the suit states.

The suit says that in a written complaint made by the president of the POA on July 25, it contained lies about Conaway and claimed she interfered in the investigationThe complaint was sent to Noakes.

This was discussed in internal affairs meetings, where assistant chiefs explained to Noakes that Conaway was following policy regarding her inquiries into the case, according to the suit.

In a meeting in Sept. 2022, Noakes reportedly made a statement to Conaway’s subordinates that he would have to either transfer or demote her, according to the suit.

The lawsuit states that Noakes publicly snubbed and humiliated Conaway a second time at a dinner in late October when she was nominated for Commander of the Year for 2022.

Conaway later discovered Noakes had opened an Internal Affairs investigation on her regarding the case she was inquiring about, according to the suit. On Jan. 9, 2023, her first day back from maternity leave, she was issued a complaint form for alleged policy violations regarding her oversight of the case.

Internal Affairs informed Conaway that they were told by Noakes to investigate her, despite the police department’s failure to file a complaint within 180 days after the alleged conduct, which policy calls for, according to the suit.

The retaliation from Noakes continued and was she ultimately demoted from deputy chief to captain in July 2023, the suit says.

In a meeting, Noakes said she was being demoted because no one wanted to work for Conaway out of fear that she would “target” them, the lawsuit states.

Noakes sent an email announcing Conaway’s demotion saying she was not operating effectively in her position, according to the lawsuit.

The suit describes Conaway as a hard working and dedicated employee. She worked her way from officer to several ranks, including corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, commander, captain and finally deputy chief of police, according to the suit.

The lawsuit states that Noakes had a history of retaliating against command staff who tried to hold officers accountable.

Conaway seeks monetary relief between $250,000 to $1 million and to be reinstated as a deputy chief.