Estherville, IA (KICD) — A lawsuit filed against the city of Estherville, Police Chief Brent Shatto and former police officer Ben Scheevel was dismissed by Federal District Court Chief Judge Leonard Strand in late August.
The lawsuit was filed by Victoria Abrahamson last April and alleges she suffered emotional distress, civil extortion and civil rights violations due to what she says was negligent supervision and regulation.
The claim of emotional distress was dismissed with Chief Judge Strand stating “no reasonable jury could find Abrahamson suffered extreme emotional distress, let alone that Scheevel or Shatto caused such an injury.”
The rest of the claims were dismissed on the grounds of there reportedly being no proof that she had been treated differently or had her right to privacy violated by the city. The court found the city not liable for negligent supervision due to Abrahamson not being able to prove a wrongful act had caused damages.
Following the dismissal Chief Shatto gave a statement saying, “The lawsuit alleged I did not take Ms. Abrahamson’s complaint seriously, had knowledge of the former police officer’s misconduct and did nothing to stop it, and that I had engaged in wrongful or tortious conduct. These allegations were simply not true.”
