Lawsuit seeks $6 million from Metro, former officer in groping cases

By Bethany Barnes

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 | 12:45 p.m.

Two women who reported being groped by a now-former Metro Police officer are suing him and the department for more than $6 million.

Victoria Murnane and Melissa Davis are hoping their suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, will help them unravel why John K. Norman went unstopped for so long, said their attorney Benson Lee.

Norman resigned June 11, 2012, from the Metro force and pleaded guilty later that month to two gross misdemeanors —oppression under color of office and gross lewdness. He is serving a two-year prison sentence.

Because Norman pleaded guilty, details about Metro’s internal investigation of Norman and practices that may have perpetuated his behavior didn’t come out, Lee said.

According to the lawsuit, the first incident occurred in June 2011 when Norman forced another woman, who plans to join the suit, to remain in Norman’s police car while he manipulated her bra and breasts, according to the federal complaint.

Norman went on to grope Davis in August and Murnane in December. Norman wasn’t arrested until February 2012, according to the complaint,

Lee said his clients wanted to know what happened when that first complaint came in and whether police officers are held to a different standard.

If the suit reveals that policymakers or employees allowed Norman's actions to go unchecked, they will be added as plaintiffs to the suit, Lee said.

Metro hired Norman on April 26, 2008.

A spokesman for Metro said the department did not comment on ongoing litigation.