Jury orders Philadelphia to pay $1 million to former police officers in case that brought down former Commissioner Richard Ross

After a weeklong trial in federal court, a jury on Tuesday ordered the city to pay $1 million to two former police officers in a high-profile sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit that led to the abrupt resignation of former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross nearly three years ago.

The jury’s verdict ends a saga that began in 2019 when former Cpl. Audra McCowan claimed that Ross had ignored a sexual harassment complaint she made against another officer in part because she broke off a two-year affair with Ross in 2011. The explosive lawsuit — filed by McCowan and former Patrol Officer Jennifer Allen — also detailed a litany of sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaints against male colleagues that they said were ignored or led to retaliation.

The claims painted the department as a boys’ club overrun with sexually inappropriate behavior: McCowan and Allen contended they were groped at work — once during an office prayer circle. They said they were belittled by colleagues, shamed for pumping breast milk during office hours, subjected to harassing phone calls at home, and transferred to less desirable posts when they complained.

The eight-person jury sided with the two female officers and awarded each $500,000 in damages, according to court records.

“The jury found the city has discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against the two plaintiffs,” said Ian Bryson, an attorney for the two former officers, who “resigned as a result of the city ruining their careers.”

After his resignation, Ross denied accusations of retaliation and said he stepped down to avoid creating a distraction for the department. A three-decade veteran who was widely respected on the force, his abrupt departure sent shock waves through the department just days after a mass shooting had wounded six officers and amid a national uproar over officers’ inflammatory social media posts.

Mayor Jim Kenney said at the time that he did not have confidence in Ross to address the department’s underlying culture of sexual harassment. Officials spent months conducting a national search before hiring Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, who took the reins of the department in 2020.

Court records show Ross and other individuals were removed as defendants over the course of the three-year litigation — a common occurrence in civil lawsuits against city agencies before trial. Bryson said their removal “had nothing to do with their culpability” and said the verdict should be a call for the city to overhaul its sexual harassment and retaliation policies.

“The city defended the case all the way,” Bryson said. “They defended the bad conduct and the failures from the lower ranks all the way up to the police commissioner.”

City spokesperson Sarah Peterson said that the city “stands by the analysis that led to taking this case to trial” and that it is looking at appeal options.

If the verdict stands, Peterson confirmed the city would be obligated to pay for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees in addition to the $1 million in damages. Bryson said those fees would be “significant.”

Over the last 15 years, the city has settled dozens of civil rights lawsuits alleging sexual, racial, or gender-based discrimination against female police officers — and in many of those cases, women on the force alleged departmental brass had turned a blind eye to their grievances.

In a 2018 audit that came about in response to the #MeToo movement, City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart found the city’s sexual harassment reporting practices were not only costing taxpayers millions but also deterring victims from coming forward and meting out unequal punishment to harassers.

Rhynhart, who was subpoenaed to testify in the McCowan trial on behalf of the plaintiffs, said the Kenney administration agreed to centralize sexual harassment investigations within a separate city agency to bolster confidence in the process, but many cases are still being handled within the PPD.

“People who are reporting sexual harassment need to know it will be investigated and handled outside their department, because inside their departments, there is a potential for bias — for friendships and relationships to skew the process,” Rhynhart said Tuesday.

Peterson said the city was in the process of transitioning cases from the Police Department to the city’s Employee Relations Unit in the Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations, as well as updating sexual harassment training and disciplinary practices citywide.

The $1 million judgment for McCowan and Allen is among the city’s largest sexual harassment payouts. However, in other high-profile cases, the city has settled instead of seeing the case to trial.

Staff writer Jenice Armstrong contributed to this article.