Philadelphia police officer who filed harassment suit resigns
(Photo courtesy of the Office of Gov. Tom Wolf)
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia police corporal whose sexual harassment lawsuit against the department led the police commissioner to step down won’t return to the job after her medical leave.
A lawyer for Audra McCowan says the 15-year veteran turned in her gun and badge Wednesday.
Lawyer Ian Bryson says McCowan resigned rather than return to a desk job in a hallway at police headquarters where she felt ostracized.
The pending suit filed by McCowan and Patrol Officer Jennifer Allen says their complaints of being physically and verbally harassed by colleagues were ignored for years.
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McCowan says that’s because she broke off a long-ago affair with former Commissioner Richard Ross.
He denied any retaliation when he stepped down in August, but said he was leaving for the good of the city.