A 63-year-old former police officer has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the Hartford Police Department claiming she was assigned to the patrol division despite her advanced age and should have been allowed to “bump” less senior officers for a less strenuous position.

In her five-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Windsor resident Germaine Coachman claimed that when she asked in December 2015 to be reassigned from the patrol division, she was told by Sgt. Andrew Lawrence that “a thick-skinned approach is suggested to prevent festering of future situations.”

Coachman's attorney, John R. Williams, said Friday that keeping Coachman in the patrol division in her 60s was a safety issue.