Thursday, July 15, 1999
Bisexual officer says bias led to demotion
BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Phillip Barnes.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Cincinnati Police Officer Phillip Barnes says for years he's been teased at work for “being a little effeminate.”
When the 18-year veteran officer was promoted to sergeant in January, his co-workers gave him a Boy George album at his transfer party.
The former Marine, described in reviews as “productive” and “knowledgeable,” says he has taken teasing for his mannerisms, long nails and arched eyebrows.
The worst humiliation, he says, was when he was forced to step down last week from sergeant to the rank of patrol officer. He says he failed to make probation as a sergeant because of his sexual orientation.
Officer Barnes, 39, who is bisexual, has taken his complaints to the Fraternal Order of Police, the Sentinel Police Association and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC is beginning to set up interviews regarding his claims of discrimination based on racism and sexual orientation.
The father of two, who is separated from his wife, said he is going public because he can't stand what is happening to him.
“I guess the main reason I'm doing this is because I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I go through.”
He said he was subjected to graphic sexual comments throughout his sergeant training in harassment that became more than typical cop talk.
“I just figured cops are abrasive,” he said. “All I wanted to do was get promoted.”
But the official word is that he just can't cut it as a supervisor.
The police division says he can't write routine reports, has poor judgment in street situations, lacks time-management skills, is untruthful and has no “command presence” — mostly criticisms being documented for the first time in a career of nearly two decades.
Capt. Vincent Demasi, the District 1 commander who recommended that Officer Barnes fail probation as a sergeant, said the decision was solely a performance issue.
A five-page explanation of his demotion — part of a binder of documents on Officer Barnes' probationary period — details examples of his failure to improve during a remedial training program.
The criticisms are as major as accusing him of being untruthful in reports to as minor as wearing his nameplate on the wrong side of his uniform.
They are the strongest complaints about him in the same career file that contains 25 letters of commendation for things ranging from helping disabled motorists to applauding his interviewing skills.
“I'm not even aware of his sexual orientation,” Capt. Demasi said. “I don't judge people by sex or color, race or religion. I judge people by performance.”
Officer Barnes never complained to his superiors about sexually harassing comments, Capt. Demasi said.
While Officer Barnes claims the division unfairly set up a training program specifically for him, Capt. Demasi said it was meant to mentor him.
“It was my goal to help him succeed,” he said. “It just didn't work.”
Officer Barnes admits he's always had trouble typing reports. But he said he was the only sergeant to be documented daily during his proba tion period. He has a master's degree in social work from the University of Cincinnati and says he has the skills to be a supervisor and one of the about 150 sergeants on the 1,000-member force.
“I'm slow and I can't type,” he said. “But I wasn't given a fair chance. If I was that terrible, why would you give me a gun and put me on patrol?”
The Sentinel Police Association, an organization that represents minority officers, sent a letter last week to Rodney Prince, the city's assistant safety director, questioning the process by which Officer Barnes was evaluated as a sergeant.
His office is looking into whether the training and evaluation process was fair. The police union also is investigating, local Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman said.
Officer Barnes appears to be the first person in the division's history to be demoted as a sergeant because of something unrelated to discipline, said Personnel Director Thomas Ammann, a former assistant chief.
According to civil-service rules, Officer Barnes cannot appeal the demotion.
His complaint regarding discrimination over sexual orientation is the first the police division has had, Mr. Ammann said.
A former Long Island police officer was awarded $380,000 last month by a federal jury that found Nassau County, N.Y., police officers discriminated against him because he is gay.
The verdict was one of the few times nationwide that a jury has held a government entity liable for anti-gay harassment.
Cincinnati civil-rights attorney Al Gerhardstein represented a gay teacher in Williamsburg last year in a discrimination suit against his Clermont County school district. The court ordered $71,492 damages and the teacher's reinstatement.
Mr. Gerhardstein will represent Officer Barnes. He could not speak specifically about his case but said it is part of a growing trend.
“No federal anti-discrimination law specifically covers sexual orientation as a protected status,” he said. “It's another civil-rights movement.”
Officer Barnes is waiting for the EEOC to rule.
He said the issue is not about securing the rank of sergeant. He plans to continue as a patrol officer until he's eligible to retire.
“My career is basically over,” he said. “I've got a reputation of being incompetent, yet I walk a beat and carry a gun. I intend to fight this. But the police division can be very cruel.”
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