Kansas City police officers, Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell, arrested Sophia Salva on suspicion of using a fake temporary license tag on her car. Salva complained several times during the arrest that she was three months pregnant, bleeding, and needed to see a doctor. The officers disagreed. Spencer said Salva was merely having her period and declined Salva’s invitation to check her underwear: "It’s called a menstrual cycle. I understand. OK? ‘Cause I am a woman." Likewise, Schnell believed that Salva had a case of "jailitis," in which a suspect will invent a reason to go to the hospital to avoid incarceration. Unfortunately, Salva really was pregnant, and the next morning she delivered a premature baby who did not survive. The police department fired the officers for failing to take Salva to the hospital, for the way they treated her, and for failing to recover the counterfeit tag. Spencer and Schnell filed suit to contest the firings. The trial court upheld the firings, and the appeals court agreed, noting the following:
[I]t was within the board’s discretion to terminate [the officers] for violating the department policies by failing to seek medical help for Salva when she requested medical attention . . . and by treating Salva in a discourteous and undignified manner.
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