KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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The Cass County Sheriff's Office is litigating two separate discrimination lawsuits, according to court documents obtained by KSHB 41.
Lawsuit 1: Kenneth Massa v. Cass County
Kenneth Massa, a Cass County bailiff, claims his supervisor, former Sgt. Melissa Manford, slapped him in the face while at work in March 2024.
He filed his lawsuit in March 2025.
Court documents state Massa, who is still employed with the department, shouted, "Good Morning, Manford," as his supervisor was coming down the stairs at the courthouse.
Manford appeared startled and exploded on Massa, grabbing him by the shirt with her left hand, opening the palm of her right, and smacking him across the left side of his face, the suit alleges.
Court documents state Manford shouted at him and stormed off. Additionally, a few other deputies named in the documents saw a red welt across Massa's face.
An internal investigation was conducted.
Massa's petition states he became a target of harassment by Manford, citing she would shout profanities and threaten to hit him.
again.
Documents report Manford violated a "horseplay" policy and was reprimanded by verbal corrective action.
Investigation reports noted a more serious offense was committed: fourth-degree assault, per court documents.
Massa's petition claims his supervisor was never disciplined further, and the sheriff's office never referred the assault case to the county prosecutor.
Further, court documents claim the harassment continued, and Massa was assigned to entry-level work after the slapping incident.
Massa claims these incidents have made him grow increasingly anxious, raising his blood pressure and making him feel as though he's often on the verge of panic attacks while working.
In his suit, Massa claims the county is in violation of Missouri statute for not taking proper disciplinary action. Additional counts include discrimination for exercise of workers' compensation rights, violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act, sex discrimination, disability discrimination and retaliation.
Massa has filed for a jury trial and is asking for $25,000 in compensation.
His next hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the Cass County Justice Center in Harrisonville.
Massa is still employed with the Cass County Sheriff's Office. He was hired in 2020.
Lawsuit 2: Melissa Manford v. Cass County
Melissa Manford filed an employment discrimination lawsuit at the end of May against the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Court documents state Manford began employment with the department in 2005. In 2020, she was promoted to sergeant as the only female in her chain of command.
The court documents obtained by KSHB 41 state the discrimination issues date back to 2019.
Manford reports an unnamed male supervisor made comments to her such as, "... I forbid you to be pregnant," when she was helping plan a baby shower for her relative.
Additionally, the documents state another male repeatedly touched Manford's hair, making comments about touching her "bun hole."
Male coworkers laughed at the behavior.
The documents go on to add that many male colleagues would make comments that she did not deserve her position, comments Manford said made her fear her
position.
Other unnamed male colleagues allegedly gave Manford a notebook with large print as a gift, attaching a pen to it because she's "forgetful."
The documents state the notebook had a handwritten title, "GERIATRIC EDITION" on the front cover.
This behavior caused humiliation, according to the court documents.
Other employees also made digs at Manford's age, reportedly gifting her a denture cup and denture cream.
Manford claims to have reported the harassment to a lieutenant, but her lawsuit states she was laughed at and no action was taken.
Employees often engaged in scaring Manford while on the job as well, banging on doors and purposefully jumping out to scare her because they thought it was "funny," according to court documents.
The suit states Manford has been diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD, caused by the treatment of her coworkers.
The court documents also refer to an incident where Manford slapped a deputy in self-defense because she was startled.
Manford claims she received more reprimand that the deputy named as "K.M."
The initials K.M. are listed in Manford’s lawsuit 42 different times. Her suit, filed in May 2025, outlines the same incidents identified in Massa’s lawsuit from March.
However, Massa is not named in Manford’s lawsuit.
The issues continued with K.M., including an incident involving a violation of a dress code for lacking a clean shave. Manford wrote up K.M. for violating the dress code, to which he responded by questioning why Manford didn’t have to shave, touching her face.
The issues were reported to a supervisor, and it was later determined Manford must switch to the night shift.
Manford claims later in the suit that shift had fewer senior personnel available, so it was a demotion that was preferential treatment of a younger male officer.
Manford worked in her role for over 14 years.
On June 3, 2024, Manford filed a charge of discrimination against the sheriff’s office.
On July 19, 2024, Manford was placed on administrative leave and was informed an internal affairs interview would occur on July 22, 2024.
According to court documents, Manford requested to have an attorney present for the interview, but her attorney was out of town until July 30, 2024.
The suit states the sheriff's office scheduled their interview during the period her attorney would be out of town.
Manford attended the July 23, 2024, meeting, which was conducted in an interrogation room.
The next day, Manford was asked to come to the office on July 25, 2024, where she was asked to bring all her gear.
Court documents state Manford was terminated from her position.
Manford is filing suit for discrimination based on sex/gender, age, disability, hostile work environment, retaliation, another count of retaliation violated a revised Missouri statute, and a violation of a Missouri statute permitting the presence of an attorney during an internal investigation.
Manford is demanding a jury trial and has a hearing set for 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, at the Cass County Justice Center.
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