Survivor’s Val Collins suing her police department for bypassed promotions

From Survivor San Juan del Sur and a Loved Ones challenge visit in Cambodia, Val Collins has filed “several lawsuits” against the Foxborough police department.

It would seem impossible that a castaway’s time on Survivor could ever have an impact on a lawsuit filed not against CBS but directed towards an outside venue. This seems to be the case for Survivor San Juan del Sur player Val Collins, as it’s reported in The Sun Chronicle that she has filed “several lawsuits against the town and police department after claiming she was bypassed for a promotion.”

According to her legal representative Larry Ellison, Val had three opportunities to be promoted and, despite finishing second in the town’s examination methods for promotions, was denied. He also suggests Val’s main reason for being bypassed was due to service time, in addition to taking maternity leave, alleging emails suggesting Police Chief William Baker “didn’t seem too happy” about using maternity leave.

Though this is Val’s story of her perceived injustice, part of this story does involve Survivor during Cambodia winner Jeremy Collins’ run. He was often talking about the hardship of being a father away from his kids and pregnant wife during the show and had even learned the gender of his third child when she visited during the Loved Ones challenge.

Val was also there to attend the reunion show when Jeremy was crowned the Sole Survivor of Cambodia, even though she would have that child just five days later. Off the show, they welcomed a fourth child, as reported by People, meaning Val Collins would have taken maternity leave twice in three years.

I can’t speak to the legal challenge of a qualified police officer being passed up for a promotion in a Massachusettes city home to the New England Patriots from my place here in Canada, but citing disappointment in taking maternity leave would be truly reprehensible. We wish the best for Val and Jeremy.