The city is seeking the postponement of a trial in Officer N. Melville Jones’ antibias lawsuit while it appeals a lower-court ruling in the case.
The non-jury trial is set to begin April 28 but the city contends that Common Pleas Judge Linda A. Carpenter issued an erroneous pre-trial ruling that should be reversed in Commonwealth Court.
Jones, who is gay, filed suit against the city in 2013, alleging pervasive anti-LGBT workplace bias and harassment due to his sexual orientation.
Jones alleges that a former supervisor, C. Daniel Castro, outed him, triggering a chain of events that created a hostile work environment.
Alleged acts of bias against Jones include: being sent out on patrol without proper uniform and weaponry; being asked if he gets paid while having sex in the men’s locker room; and being transferred to the “graveyard” shift.
Jones’ lawsuit also implicates four other coworkers, in addition to Castro: Michael Houck, Robert Ortiz, Cynthia Rascoe and Laverne Vann.
But the city alleges that Jones failed to cite wrongdoing by Houck, Ortiz, Rascoe and Vann in antibias complaints that Jones filed with the city’s Human Relations Commission. Thus, a major portion of Jones’ antibias case involving those four coworkers should be dismissed, according to the city.
Last month, Carpenter rejected the city’s argument and left intact Jones’ lawsuit.
Last week, the city asked Carpenter for permission to appeal her ruling in Commonwealth Court, which could delay the trial for several months.
“It makes no sense to rush to trial on claims that have a substantial likelihood of being dismissed as a result of the appeal,” city attorneys stated in the March 20 motion.
Dismissing the extraneous claims would “return the case to its original parameters; it would also remove the risks and prejudices attendant to the intermingling of these claims, and would better define the city’s ultimate exposure and the reasonable expectations of the parties toward settlement,” according to the motion.
At presstime, Carpenter hadn’t ruled on the city’s request for an interim appeal in Commonwealth Court.
Neither side had a comment for this story.
Castro no longer works for the city. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion in an unrelated matter and was sentenced to 60 months in prison.
He’s expected to testify during the trial via a remote hook-up from prison.
Jones, a 15-year veteran, continues to serve as a Philadelphia police officer. He’s seeking more than $50,000 in damages, according to court records.
