A senior Waterloo Regional Police officer named in affidavits sworn as part of a proposed lawsuit is leaving the organization.
Supt. Pat Dietrich is retiring from his role with the police service as of Wednesday, according to the voicemail message at his extension. An autoreply message from his WRPS email account also says he is retiring.
Dietrich declined to comment for this story, while Waterloo Regional Police said they would not speak about the employment status of current members.
Dietrich’s name is mentioned multiple times in a proposed class-action lawsuit by current and former WRPS officers alleging systemic sexual harassment and discrimination within the organization.
In an affidavit from Sgt. Karin Eder, who is currently on medical leave, Eder alleges that Dietrich sent her a photo of his penis and asked for a nude picture in return. She says she refused to do so, after which Dietrich stopped talking to her.
Eder says she was urged to make a formal complaint about Dietrich, but chose not to after being told it would likely only result in a warning.
In another affidavit, Barry Zehr – a former superintendent of human resources at WRPS – said he had heard allegations of misconduct levied against Dietrich and believed other senior officers were aware of them as well, but “chose not to address” the issue through the internal WRPS procedure for harassment and discrimination.
The proposed class-action lawsuit has not been certified. None of the allegations in the affidavits have been tested in court.
