Matthew Schrenger v. Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields, and Mayor Greg Fischer

Louisville police officer Matthew Schrenger is devoutly religious and a highly qualified police officer who is a 13-year Louisville Metro Police Department veteran, with multiple commendations, and without any significant previous complaint against him. He has four young children.

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On February 20, 2021, at approximately 6:00 a.m., Officer Schrenger joined his father for private prayer on a public sidewalk outside of EMW Women's Surgical Center. Schrenger was not on duty at the time of the prayer, and the abortion business had not yet opened for the day. Consequently, there were no other people around except one individual at the very beginning of Schrenger’s prayer, and a few who arrived as he was leaving. The streets were largely empty of traffic during the predawn prayer on a Saturday morning.

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Schrenger’s prayer that morning was in support of the lives ended by abortion. His prayer came from his long-held, sincere religious beliefs. EMW’s security video, purportedly of Schrenger and his father, shows two nondescriptly dressed men, walking slowly up and down the sidewalk, primarily in the dark, alternating wearing a small 40 Days for Life sign. 40 Days for Life operates on an expressed discipline of avoiding all protesting or hostile engagement of any kind. Its participants are required to focus solely on prayer, as did Schrenger. That same day, Schrenger was locked out from his computer as well as from his car computer. His police car also was taken away from him, and he was removed from the patrol schedule.

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LMPD Chief Erika Shields herself publicly admitted she did not believe that Schrenger’s conduct was clearly prohibited. When questioned about the Schrenger matter at a meeting of the Louisville Metro Council’s Oversight and Audit Committee on March 2, 2021, she stated: “[A]s an employer, it’s not black and white. And the policies have to be written in such a manner so that the subjectivity is taken away.”

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Under these circumstances, where Schrenger’s conduct admittedly was not clearly prohibited, there should have been no suspension and no investigation. Schrenger was suspended that same morning, and he was stripped of his police powers during the time his off-duty prayer was supposed to be investigated. LMPD wrongly accused Schrenger of violating LMPD Standard Operating Procedures and Kentucky law. As is immediately apparent, none of the alleged violations were intended to prohibit off-duty prayer of this nature. The plain language of the Standard Operating Procedures does not prohibit Schrenger’s conduct.

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LMPD apparently preferred to punish Schrenger unofficially by deliberately extending his suspension period, knowing the stress caused by having his career and livelihood dangling on the outcome of a protracted investigation. When asked during the Louisville Metro Council’s Oversight and Audit Committee on March 2, 2021, whether the investigation would “drag on forever,” LMPD Chief Shields stated: “There’s no reason that this [investigative] file should take any time at all.” Yet even as of that date, nearly two weeks after the off-duty prayer at issue, LMPD had not bothered even to interview Schrenger, despite his inquiries. In fact, LMPD did not get around to interviewing him until March 18, 2021, two weeks after Chief Shields publicly admitted that there is no reason the investigation should take any time at all.

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In June 2021, Officer Schrenger filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) identifying conduct by the Louisville Metro Police Department (“LMPD”) in violation of 42 U.SC. § 2000e et seq. Subsequently, the EEOC issued Schrenger a right to sue notice.

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In summary, the Defendants suspended the Plaintiff for more than four months from his job duties expressly because of the Plaintiff’s pro-life and religious speech as described above. The Defendants’ attempt to censor the Plaintiff’s speech was based on the content of that speech and on its viewpoint. Because of his religious beliefs, Defendants suspended Schrenger causing him to lose substantial amounts of pay and inflicting other harm on him. Chief Shields, Mayor Fischer, and other LMPD decision makers were aware of Schrenger’s religious beliefs when they made the decision to suspend him. Defendants’ treatment of Schrenger was substantially less-favorable than other similarly situated LMPD officers, causing Schrenger significant harm. Defendants conduct, as set forth above, violated Officer Schrenger’s rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, set forth in 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq.