Fairfax police Capt. Denise Hopson settles lawsuit against Chief David Rohrer

Fairfax police Capt. Denise Hopson settles lawsuit against Chief David Rohrer



 The Fairfax County police captain who sued her own police chief for defamation, after the chief sent out e-mails that the captain said insulted her, has settled the lawsuit for more than $35,000 and a promise not to transfer her out of the high-profile major crimes division for a minimum of 18 months.

Capt. Denise L. Hopson was upset by actions taken by Fairfax Chief David M. Rohrer during an investigation of the promotional process for detectives, which was overseen and revamped by Hopson. After an anonymous complaint about Hopson was received, but before an investigation was completed, Rohrer in March of last year ordered the results of her new process thrown out and those promoted returned to their prior jobs. The chief sent an e-mail to top commanders that called the process “unfair and flawed.”

The chief’s e-mail stated, “the problems primarily center on flawed/poor judgment on the part of the commander running the process.” A second, department-wide e-mail from Rohrer described the testing as “clearly a flawed process from a fundamental fairness perspective.”

In her lawsuit, Hopson alleged that Rohrer was retaliating against her “for her challenge to his authority and decision” in an unrelated sexual harassment case.
As part of the settlement, neither side was allowed to comment beyond another e-mail written by Rohrer, to be sent to the entire Fairfax department. He said that the investigation into the allegations of unfairness had been completed and that Hopson had committed no violations.

But “my decision to vacate the process was affirmed by the inquiry,” Rohrer wrote. He said the investigation found a “lack of a standard protocol for lateral selection processes.” A county personnel director will develop new promotional processes, Rohrer said, which Hopson will oversee.

Hopson thought that she was about to be transferred out of the major crimes division, which includes the homicide, robbery, sex crimes and financial crimes squads, as a result of the anonymous allegations and resulting uproar. But according to the settlement released Thursday, she will remain in her captain’s post for a minimum of 18 more months. In the settlement, Rohrer denied a potential transfer or any retaliation against her.

The financial settlement of $36,097 covers the legal fees of her attorney, Victor M. Glasberg. Neither he nor a police spokeswoman would comment, in accordance with the terms of the case settlement.