Civil Plaintiff
Former Philadelphia Police Officers Win a $1 Million Bias Verdict Against the City
Two former police officers whose gender discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit led Philadelphia’s police commissioner to resign have won a $1 million verdict against the city.
A federal jury on Tuesday found that Cpl. Audra McCowan and Patrol Officer Jennifer Allen endured a hostile work environment that included being put in undesirable jobs, with changing shifts, after they raised sexual harassment complaints. They each won $500,000.
McCowan, Allen’s supervisor, alleged that former Commissioner Richard Ross failed to help because she had ended a romantic relationship with him in 2011. Ross denied engaging in any retaliation, but resigned, when the allegations surfaced in 2019, for what he called the good of the city.
