PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Justice has announced it secured a near-$500,000 settlement in racial discrimination and retaliation litigation filed on behalf of three transit police officers against the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).
The United States of America had filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Aug. 1 versus SEPTA, which is based in Philadelphia.
“[Supervisor] Bryan McCauley harassed [Officer Jon] Randolph during Randolph’s entire employment within the Special Investigation Unit under McCauley’s supervision. The harassment was based on Randolph’s race and religion and included both verbal harassment and physical threats and assault. McCauley harassed [Officer] Anthony Lederer and [Officer Nathan] D’Ettorre during their entire employment within the Special Investigation Unit under McCauley’s supervision. The harassment was based on Randolph’s race and religion and included physical threats and assault directed at each of them,” the suit says.
“In their charges, Randolph, D’Ettorre and Lederer alleged, that McCauley, their supervisor, subjected them to a hostile work environment which included harassment based on race and religion and included physical threats and assaults. Further, they alleged that, after reporting the harassment, they suffered retaliation by being threatened with discipline and polygraph tests, were admonished by the Chief of Police for putting SEPTA’s reputation at risk and endured greater scrutiny with threatened investigations against them.”
The suit detailed numerous abuses against the plaintiffs committed by their supervisor, which took place in 2019.
“McCauley printed an Instagram story in which the ‘N’ word was used several times. He read the post multiple times to Randolph and D’Ettorre, hung it above his desk, and declared that it was the ‘squad’s mission statement.’ In July 2019, and in the months following, McCauley several times made racist jokes in front of all three officers about black employees, including Randolph, liking fried chicken. Lederer and D’Ettorre were present and witnessed McCauley making these comments to, and in front of, Randolph,” the suit states.
“McCauley made several racially derogatory statements to Randolph, including racially charged comments about black women, and on another occasion, McCauley referred to an African-American Marine officer whose last name was Green, as ‘Dark Green Marine’. McCauley also made racially derogatory comments in front of Randolph, Lederer and D’Ettorre, including comments that a SEPTA officer couldn’t be taken seriously because he wore dreadlocks. McCauley also used the N-word when referencing an individual, and made other racially derogatory comments in the workplace, including several times referring to the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist group. McCauley, knowing Randolph is Muslim, targeted his religion, making frequent discriminatory statements about Muslims.”
After the three plaintiffs were transferred from McCauley’s unit, they reported his conduct to SEPTA’s Internal Affairs Department towards the end of 2019.
Though SEPTA’s internal Police Board of Inquiry found McCauley had in fact subjected Randolph, Lederer and D’Ettorre to a hostile work environment, which included harassment based on race, religion, and physical and mental abuse and intimidation – conduct it referred to as “appalling” – now-former SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel did not fire McCauley and instead, allowed him to resign.
Nestel himself abruptly retired from the SEPTA Police in July with little public explanation given, aside from mounting concerns over the agency’s public safety record, increased crime aboard SEPTA trains and decreased ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The suit adds that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigated all the charges, and found reasonable cause to believe that the plaintiffs were subjected to unlawful harassment by SEPTA based on race and religion, creating a hostile work environment for them and that SEPTA retaliated against them for filing complaints of harassment and discrimination in violation of Title VII.
After unsuccessfully attempting to achieve a voluntary resolution of each of the charges through conciliation with SEPTA, the complaint explains the EEOC referred the charges to the Department of Justice.
In a consent decree filed concurrently with the complaint, SEPTA denied it discriminated or retaliated against the officers in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – but agreed to pay the officers $496,000 in compensatory damages, and institute mandatory anti-discrimination and retaliation policies and provide trainings for its employees.
“All transit police officers deserve to go to work each day without fear of harassment and retaliation from their supervisors and colleagues. This settlement sends a clear message that the department stands ready to protect employees who are subject to racial harassment and a hostile work environment, particularly in law enforcement agencies dedicated to serving the public,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said.
The plaintiffs were represented by Lori Kisch and Yong Choi of the U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C.
The defendant was represented by Amy C. Lachowicz and Daniel J. McGravey of Clark Hill, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:22-cv-03004
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com