PHILADELPHIA – Jewish police officers suing the City of Philadelphia for discrimination will be allowed to file retaliation claims in a second amended complaint in federal court.
On Sept. 17, Judge Cynthia Rufe, of the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, allowed two officers to re-file certain claims by Sept. 27. Both can claim retaliation under Title VII and the Pennsylvania Human Rights Act but all other contested claims won’t be allowed.
The amendment won’t prejudice Philadelphia PD, Rufe said, because it will not result in much additional discovery or other legal costs.
“The new claims of discrimination under Title VII and PHRA are based upon the same factual allegations as those contained in the original complaint and repeated in the first amendment complaint,” Rufe wrote.
“Any additional discovery for these claims is likely minimal. Furthermore, adding additional legal theories based on existing allegations is generally not considered prejudicial before the summary judgment stage.”
The two officers – Stacey Gonzalez and Pavel Reznik – allege they were subjected to anti-Semitic comments and different treatment as non-Jewish officers.