WASHINGTON — The city of Philadelphia is facing a lawsuit from five white male police officers who claim they were unlawfully passed over for promotion due to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in favor of candidates who scored worse on a key performance metric.
The five officers had “positive annual performance reviews” and “strong service records” when they missed out on captain and lieutentant positions during the November 2025 promotion cycle, according to the suit filed by America First Legal (AFL).
“Federal civil-rights law prohibits employers from making promotion decisions based on race or sex,” AFL senor counsel Nick Barry said in a statement. “Employers cannot use protected characteristics to override merit.”
“Promotions must be based on excellence, experience, and performance, not on the race or sex of the candidate.”
The lawsuit filed Wednesday blames a 2021 City of Brotherly Love policy change that ditched a merit-based so-called “Rule of Two” promotion system.
Under the old rule, city agencies were required to select between the two highest-ranking candidates on eligibility lists for promotions. The rankings were based on scores on a civil service exam.
During her time on the city council, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker led the charge to eliminate the policy, citing a 2018 report by the Pew Charitable Trusts which found “many City officials said that the rule, by drawing hard-and-fast distinctions between candidates of roughly equal qualifications, can undermine a manager’s ability to hire a diverse and talented workforce.”
At the time, Parker’s team suggested that axing the “Rule of Two” would allow Philadelphia’s human resources director to issue more flexible hiring guidelines to address questions such as “What is the diversity of the incumbents in the job title to be announced?” and “Where are the gaps in diversity?”
This past November, the Philadelphia Police Department elevated 10 people from lieutenant to captain and 14 from sergeant to lieutenant.
Three of the plaintiffs pursued the captain post, and the other two wanted to be lieutenant.
The trio seeking to become captain ranked between 8th and 13th on the “captain eligibility list” based on their civil service examination scores and were among the 23 candidates interviewed for the position.
The city passed them over for some candidates who had higher ranks on the list and others who were ranked as low as 17th on the list, per the lawsuit.
“Of the 10 individuals promoted to captain, only 50% were white males, even though white men constituted 70% of the top ten candidates and 73% of the top 15 candidates by test scores,” the suit reads.
The duo who pursued the lieutenant positions ranked 27th and 28th on the “lieutenant eligibility list,” though 15 others from that list had been previously promoted. Among those who were elevated were candidates who ranked 30th and 34th, per the AFL.
The promotions drew backlash from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5, which received “complaints from members who believe they have been unlawfully passed over.”
AFL is asking the federal Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to block the City of Brotherly Love from using the “Rule of Five” and from “using or considering race or sex in hiring or promotional decisions.”
It is also demanding that the five officers get promoted and compensated with back pay.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment when reached by The Post due to ongoing litigation.
Parker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AFL was founded by Stephen Miller, the current White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
