Gay NYPD officer suing for discrimination
An gay police office has claimed that he was threatened with violence and verbally abused by fellow officers and was treated unfairly by supervisors at the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Michael Harrington, 30, made the claims in a lawsuit filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court.
Mr Harrington, who has been a police officer since July 2002, claims that he told another officer in the 75th Precinct in the East New York section of Brooklyn that he was gay in February 2003. He says that’s when his problems began.
Other officers called him a “faggot” and one said he would hurt Mr Harrington if confronted, he claims.
The papers filed by Mr Harrington claim that he repeatedly attempted to transfer out of the police precinct by his applications “kept getting lost.”
He was eventually moved to the 79th Precinct but not before obscene drawings of him engaging in a gay sex act were displayed, according to the court papers.
While serving with the 79th Precinct, he took his partner to a work Christmas party.
The suit claims that another officer spat out his drink and laughed at the pair.
Then moved to the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village so he could “be with his people”, Mr Harrington claimed another officer told him that “all faggots should be shot.”
He also claims that he was not offered day shifts in order to frustrate his efforts to adopt a child, that he was given junior roles to carry to out and that he was forced to work in a hostile environment.
Mr Harrington also claims he developed stress related stomach cramps and nausea.
He is seeking unspecified money damages.
NYPD are currently not commenting on the case.
