It’s an all-too-familiar scenario for women, but in this case, it’s a man alleging that he was sexually harassed by his female boss, that his complaints were ignored by his superiors and that he was demoted for speaking up.

Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy Philip Kozlowski, a 53-year-old resident of Oxford Village, is suing his department and the county in U.S. District Court in Detroit for alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation, all in violation of Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Michigan’s Elliot -Larsen Civil Rights Act.

“He didn’t want to file a lawsuit,” said Scott Batey, the Bingham Farms attorney representing Kozlowski.

“He likes working (for the sheriff’s office), except for the harassment . . . He tried everything he could to avoid getting into this position, but when they demoted him . . . (he was) left with no other alternative.”

Wayne County filed its answer to the lawsuit in federal court on Jan. 4. In it, the county repeatedly denied Kozlowski’s allegations and called them “untrue.”

The county issued a statement to the press that it “will have no comment on this pending litigation beyond its formal answer.”

Kozlowski, who’s been employed with the sheriff’s office since May 1992, claims he was the target of “a campaign of sexual harassment” by Sgt. Maureen McMillan that began in early November 2014 and lasted for nearly a year, according to the suit filed Nov. 28.

“Since the news (about the lawsuit) came out (last week), I got a phone call from somebody who said she harassed them. I haven’t talked to them yet,” Batey said.

McMillan is mentioned by name in the suit, but she was not named as a defendant.

“Under Title VII (of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964), you can’t sue an individual. You can only sue the employer,” Batey explained.

The Leader was unable to reach McMillan for comment. “We aren’t releasing Maureen McMillan’s office number and/or (county) email address,” wrote Kelly Miner, communications director for the county sheriff. McMillan has not commented to any other media outlets.

McMillan’s alleged “campaign of sexual harassment” consisted of lewd comments, unwanted advances and stalking, according to the suit.

The suit contains 10 specific comments of a sexual nature that the sergeant allegedly made to Kozlowski. Among them:

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“We can break my new mattress in.”

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“Next time you throw a party, invite me over, we can get your wife drunk and have a threesome.”

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“I’d love to sit in your Jacuzzi topless.”

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“It’s okay to cheat because men are hard-wired for sex and in the biblical days, men had more than one women (sic).”

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“Did you see ‘50 Shades of Grey’? I bet you are just like him in bed.”

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“You need to talk to me the way you talk to your wife.”

Kozlowski claims McMillan harassed him with her actions as well.

She allegedly gave his partners “false assignments in order to be alone with him” and “would close the door, turn off the lights and lock herself in the office with him.”

“She has texted and called his personal cell phone for non-work related issues,” the suit states. “She has driven by his home on several occasions.”

Kozlowski was “frequently” pulled off assignments to “hang out” with the sergeant, “leaving his partner to pick up the slack,” according to the suit.

At work, the suit alleges McMillan “neglected her duties” in order to “come to (Kozlowski’s) post and spend the entire shift there.” She “would purposely sit very close to him so that their knees would touch,” the suit stated.

All this made Kozlowski “feel terrible,” according to Batey.

“He’s newly married. He’s very happily married. He just didn’t want to hear it,” the attorney said.

When asked if there had ever been any type of romantic relationship between Kozlowski and McMillan, Batey replied, “None.”

Batey said his client made it very clear to the sergeant that he wasn’t interested in her and wanted her harassing behavior to cease.

“He asked her to stop,” he said. “He told her to stop.”

But the alleged harassment continued, according to the suit and Batey, so Kozlowski, following the chain of command, repeatedly complained about what was happening to a captain.

“He made at least eight (verbal) complaints from November (2014) to September (2015),” Batey said.

But those complaints allegedly fell upon deaf ears. “(The captain) kind of blew him off and said he’d take care of it, talk to her, (but that) never happened,” Batey said.

In October 2015, Kozlowski filed a written complaint alleging sexual harassment.

According to Batey, the sheriff’s office conducted an internal investigation and during this, it was discovered that “co-workers were complaining about (McMillan) showing favoritism (towards Kozlowski).”

“She’d have them do (Kozlowski’s) work,” the attorney said. “That created a toxic work environment for him. That was another source of stress for him because he knew people were upset with him.”

This internal investigation didn’t have the outcome Kozlowski was hoping for.

He was “stripped of his police powers,” demoted to a non-sworn officer, suspended for five days without pay and “transferred to the phone bank,” according to Batey and the lawsuit. Batey claims this demotion reduced Kozlowski’s annual pay by $10,000.

According to John Steele, manager of the standards compliance section of the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), Kozlowski is listed “in our system as inactive.”

MCOLES is responsible for licensing law enforcement officers in the state.

Steele said Kozlowski is still employed with the sheriff’s office, but “they removed his full deputy status.”

“It’s up to the sheriff how long that whole thing lasts,” he said.

“He’ll remain at inactive status for probably about six more months. After that, his license might lapse unless he gets certified with either Wayne County or another agency,” Steele noted. “Our standards require that you be fully empowered to enforce all the general laws.”

Both Batey and the suit allege this demotion was done in retaliation for his sexual harassment complaint.

But in its answer to the lawsuit, Wayne County stated it had “legitimate, nondiscriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons for its employment decisions concerning” Kozlowski, however, it does not elaborate on what those reasons or decisions were.

According to Batey, the county claimed his client was demoted because of insubordination.

He explained Kozlowski was “really frustrated” that nothing was being done about the alleged sexual harassment, so he decided to be “belligerent” to the sergeant in the hopes that she would transfer him away from her.

“He didn’t know what else to do,” Batey said. “No one was taking (his) complaint seriously . . . He was grasping at straws.”

But Kozlowski isn’t the only one making allegations.

Following his submittal of a written sexual harassment complaint, the sergeant filed a complaint with the Detroit Police Department alleging Kozlowski sexually assaulted her in May 2015.

Last week, WXYZ Channel 7 News reported the police had completed their investigation and were going to forward their findings to the county prosecutor.

Batey said this accusation is “absolutely” false. “(Kozlowski) was obviously very upset about it,” the attorney said. “Those are serious allegations. That’s really pouring salt on the wound, too.”

Batey claims following the alleged sexual assault, the sergeant was still purposely creating situations where she could be alone with Kozlowski.

“Who’s going to want to be alone with somebody who sexually assaulted them?” the attorney said.

“Her timeline doesn’t make sense. Her actions don’t make sense,” Batey noted.

When asked about Kozlowski’s record with the sheriff’s office, Batey said, “As far as I can tell, it’s been clean. No other significant disciplinary actions.”

The Leader asked to interview Kozlowski, but his attorney said “he can’t talk” under the terms of his employment.

According to Batey, McMillan is currently on leave from the sheriff’s office. When asked about this, Miner would only confirm that McMillan is employed by the sheriff’s office.