A Philly police inspector who’d been accused of sexual harassment has sued the city for racial discrimination
Inspector Anthony Washington said the harassment allegations were never substantiated, but were still weaponized against him by white supervisors because he is Black.
A Philadelphia police inspector who had been accused of sexual harassment has sued the city, saying the allegations were never substantiated by department investigators but were weaponized against him by white supervisors because he is Black.
Anthony Washington, who has served in a number of high-profile positions during his three decades in the department, said in his suit that two of his bosses — Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore, and former Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish, both of whom are white — helped publicize the complaints against him, then began treating him in a way that caused a “loss of professional stature, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, and loss of self-esteem.”
Washington said Vanore and Naish withheld important professional information from him and excluded him from meetings. And he said the supervisors “subjected him to less favorable terms and conditions of his employment than his white counterparts” — including some who Washington said were the subject of similar harassment complaints.
The police department declined to comment on the suit, which was filed earlier this month and was first reported by Axios. Vanore and Naish, who is now retired, declined to comment.
Washington has been a controversial figure for years. The Daily News first detailed allegations of sexual harassment against him in 2012, and between 2011 and 2014, the city spent nearly $200,000 to settle lawsuits that were filed against him over allegations that included workplace harassment, civil rights violations, and physical abuse.
He was later accused of retaliating against female officers who tried to file sexual harassment complaints against a male officer under his supervision. And in his suit, Washington said he was also accused of sexual harassment in 2020. The suit does not provide any details about that case, saying only that the allegations “were never substantiated or proved true.”
Still, Washington, without providing specifics, accused Vanore and Naish of releasing details about his history to the media — saying they didn’t do the same when similar allegations surfaced against white colleagues.
Then, Washington said, Vanore and Naish “shunned and excluded” him from meetings, withheld daily bulletins, and refused to change course even when he complained to them about the way they were treating him. He said their actions damaged his professional stature and mental health.
Washington is currently serving as a commander in narcotics, and has previously worked in units including homicide. In 2019, when questions were raised about his fitness to oversee the Special Victims Unit because of the earlier sexual harassment complaints against him, then-Commissioner Richard Ross defended him publicly, calling him “an experienced and proficient commander, with extraordinary leadership skills.”
Washington is seeking monetary damages in excess of $900,000.