City Officer Alleges Discrimination, Files Suit

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
March 12, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

A McKeesport police officer has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the mayor, alleging discrimination in promotions and retaliation for criticizing city officials on social media.

Julian Thomas, a McKeesport police officer since 2009, is Black. His lawsuit claims that he has been passed over for promotion and faced retaliation because he has spoken out against unfair personnel policies.

Thomas this week announced his candidacy for McKeesport Area School Board.

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko on Tuesday night called the lawsuit baseless. “Typically in these situations, the city makes no comment,” Cherepko said. “Enough is enough. The entire case is fallacy.”

In the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Thomas’s attorneys, Stember, Cohn & Davidson-Welling of Pittsburgh, allege that since 2011, 13 McKeesport police officers have been promoted from patrol officers to higher levels of rank. One of those officers was Black and two were mixed-race, the lawsuit states.

Thomas alleges that at least four promotions of white police officers were made without civil service procedures being followed, in violation of the city’s contract with the unionized police force. According to the lawsuit, Thomas further alleges that he has asked city officials repeatedly to be considered for promotion, and that he filed a union grievance in December 2021.

The lawsuit states that following the firing of former McKeesport police Officer Candace Tyler in October 2021, Thomas gave testimony on her behalf before the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit quotes Thomas as telling the EEOC “the (police) department has a long history of unfairly holding back women and minorities from training and promotional opportunities.”

In 2022, Tyler filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging that officials discriminated against her on the basis of her race and gender, and then ultimately fired her in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

U.S. District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand dismissed the lawsuit in 2024, writing in her ruling that evidence indicated that Tyler had been terminated with cause, and that there was not evidence that she had been discriminated against due to her race or gender.

In his lawsuit, Thomas alleges that following his testimony to the EEOC on Tyler’s behalf, he was told by Cherepko that he had jeopardized his own chances of promotion.

Thomas filed his own discrimination complaint with the EEOC in April 2022, and a second in December 2022 after he was suspended for damaging a patrol car.

The lawsuit alleges that other officers faced less disclipine for more serious infractions.

The federal Department of Justice ultimately declined to file a civil rights lawsuit against the city based on the EEOC complaint. However, in letters attached to the lawsuit, the EEOC’s area office director, Deborah A. Kane, wrote there was “reasonable cause” to believe that “unlawful employment practices have occurred,” and recommended both sides resolve the dispute through mediation.

The mediation process ultimately was unsuccessful.

“The matter presented by Mr. Thomas is currently in litigation and I cannot speak to the particulars of this case,” said McKeesport Solicitor J. Jason Elash, adding that the city would “vehemently deny the allegations contained in the complaint” and declining further comment.

But Cherepko said Tuesday there was “absolutely no truth to any of these allegations whatsoever.”

“I would expect nothing less from Mr. Thomas, whose own conduct is unbecoming of a police officer,” the mayor added.

Originally published March 12, 2025.

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