WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ) - The U.S. Justice Department said the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department illegally refused to promote a deputy because she’s a woman.
The federal government filed a lawsuit Monday, saying that Julie Ann Thobaben was unfairly denied a promotion to detective-sergeant in 2006. She’s been a Waupaca County deputy for 16 years.
According to court records, the county cited its nepotism policy in denying the promotion. Thobaben’s husband is a patrol officer in the same department.
The Justice Department said she would not have directly supervised her husband. The government also said the sheriff’s department ignored the nepotism in at least eight cases in which men got promotions.
The county has not responded to the new lawsuit.
