“There would be a big red mark in his employment file that would follow him for the rest of his career.”
I understand what you are saying but the effect would be nothing would be entered into his record nor would there be any punishment. She did right in taking actions that the law enforcement agency has no control over, otherwise they would simply bury her complaint. It is a sad state of affairs that a citizen feels the need to take legal action when in a responsible world she should only need to file a complaint to have an effective result.
I have found both personal experience and through family that is in law enforcement that actions they have no control over are the only ones that get their attention. They have that “Blue Line” that separates them from us and they will side with the blues every time. A court action gets their attention, so, in my opinion, this lady did the right thing. It stops them cold as nothing else will.