Officers Lt. Charla James-Hutchison, Sgt. Dione Alexander, and Sgt. Sabrina Braswell-Bouyer are the highest-ranking Black women in the Pierce County sheriff’s department in Tacoma, Washington, each having served for more than 25 years, yet their seniority evidently hasn’t protected them from racially motivated harassment. 

NBC News’ Char Adams reports the women have filed a civil lawsuit in the Pierce County Superior Court, alleging the department’s top commanders engaged in or ignored racial and gender-based discrimination and harassment, as well as allowed a culture of hostility toward African Americans and women. 

RELATED: First Black Police Chief of Iowa City Criticized for Reform Efforts 

As a result of the decades of discrimination, they have experienced mental suffering, financial losses and reputational damage, per The Associated Press. 

While the list of offensive behavior is said to be “too numerous to fully detail,” incidents include white coworkers use the N-word to refer to Black people in the county, telling employees to “go back to where they came from” if they didn’t like what was going on in the country, referring to women as “thugs” because of their hairstyles, saying the COVID-19 vaccines should be “tested” on Black people before white people and asking employees who were born in Africa if they ate “zebra” for lunch. 

RELATED: US Police Forces See Decline in Diversity as More Black Cops Sign Off 

The women were also told that their hiring, promotions and success was based on their skin tone and the department’s need to “fill a quota.” 

“Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit seeking accountability and redress for Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s deep-seeded culture of discrimination against racial minorities and women, and acts of retaliation against those who dare speak out in support of women and African Americans in the workplace,” according to the suit. 

The civil lawsuit comes at a time when the department is already under intense scrutiny due to actions from its top sheriff Ed Troyer. 

RELATED: Iowa’s First Black Democratic Lead Gets Lynching Threat for Trump Op-ed 

Troyer was recently added to the county’s “Brady List” of witnesses with questionable credibility, and the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance has called for him to resign after he falsely accused a Black newspaper carrier of threatening to kill him in January. 

He has since pleaded not guilty to charges of false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. If convicted, he could be barred from office and faces nearly a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. 

If you or someone you know is struggling or needs someone to talk to, resources are available for you here.