McKeesport police officer sues over racial discrimination, retaliation claims

A Black McKeesport police officer is suing his employer and the city’s mayor over claims of racial discrimination in how the police department promotes and disciplines.

Julian Thomas, 38, of McKeesport, alleges the city has long ignored its own civil service rules, resulting in mostly white officers being promoted by the mayor. During that period, according to his complaint, the city did not post the openings, conduct service testing or interview candidates.

Thomas, who joined the force as a part-time officer in 2009 and became full-time in 2014, is also alleging retaliation.

Defendants in the lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Pittsburgh, include the City of McKeesport and Mayor Michael Cherepko.

McKeesport Solicitor J. Jason Elash declined comment because of pending litigation but said the city “vehemently” denies the allegations.

Cherepko said the city deserves the chance to defend itself from what he called false accusations.

“Typically, in these situations, the city makes no comment. Enough is enough,” Cherepko said. “The entire case is fallacy. There is absolutely no truth to any of these allegations whatsoever; however, I would expect nothing less from Mr. Thomas, whose own conduct is unbecoming of a police officer.”

According to the complaint, Thomas detailed multiple instances in which he said the city violated its own policies on promotion and ignored requirements for civil service testing.

The lawsuit alleges that all promotions to positions of rank — outside of chief — are to be conducted through the McKeesport Civil Service Commission. The three highest-ranking candidates are to be presented to the mayor for selection.

As part of that process, public notice is to be provided that positions are available and civil service testing will be conducted.

However, according to Thomas’ lawsuit, from the time he was hired through at least December 2023, when a position of rank became open, the department did not post the opening, conduct civil service testing or interview candidates.

Thomas claims that since Cherepko took office in 2011, he promoted 13 patrol officers to positions of rank. Only one Black officer was promoted to detective. Two bi-racial males were promoted, the lawsuit said, and the rest were white men.

The lawsuit does not say how many Black officers work in the department, and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a question from TribLive about the number.

In 2020, the lawsuit said the city and police union resolved a grievance in which the city agreed to follow the civil service rules for promotion. But in December 2021, it continued, the city had promoted four white officers without posting the positions.

That same month, Thomas filed a grievance against the city. A month later, he filed a written statement for another Black officer, Candace Tyler, who also sued for race and gender discrimination. In it, he wrote: “The department has a long history of unfairly holding back women and minorities from training and promotional opportunities which this officer would gladly provide should it be requested.”

In March 2022, the lawsuit said Thomas met with Cherepko. The mayor told Thomas that before December, “he had a ‘decent shot’ of promotion in the future,” but didn’t know if that was still the case in light of the grievance, according to the lawsuit.

Thomas filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discrimination complaint against the city a month later.

Car trouble

An incident six months after that led to another filing with the commission.

On Oct. 22, 2022, the lawsuit said that Thomas’s patrol car sustained damage to two door panels and a door handle when he scraped the side of the vehicle against a pole.

Thomas said in the complaint he didn’t realize that night that the car was damaged, and the next day, when he did, he reported it to his immediate supervisor.

However, Cherepko claimed that Thomas failed to report a “serious incident,” according to the lawsuit, and Thomas was suspended without pay for 30 days.

Thomas listed several incidents in which white officers in the department had damaged patrol cars but received reduced or no discipline.

In one instance, a white officer who was promoted, struck a pedestrian with his car in 2020 on Lysle Boulevard, Thomas said. And the same officer, the next year, went through a red light in a police vehicle, flipping the car and totaling it, the lawsuit said.

Neither instance was investigated, the lawsuit said.

Thomas filed his second EEOC complaint against the city in December 2022 alleging retaliation and discrimination.

He received a right-to-sue letter on both EEOC claims on July 29, 2024.

The EEOC said it found “‘reasonable cause to believe that unlawful employment practices have occurred,’ that the city ‘issued disciplinary actions to [Thomas] because of his race, Black, and in retaliation for participating in a protected activity,” and that the city ‘has engaged in a pattern of discriminatory disciplinary actions against a class of Black and/or female police offers because of their race and sex.’”

According to the letter, the EEOC wrote that evidence showed that Black and female officers received more severe discipline than their white counterparts.

However, Cherepko noted in his statement that Thomas’ EEOC complaint was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, which chose not to file suit.

In its letter to Thomas, however, the EEOC said the decision not to sue “should not be taken to mean that the Department of Justice has made a judgment as to whether or not your charge is meritorious.”