Pittsburgh’s Human Relations Commission today announced that it found in favor of a dog walker who accused a Department of Public Works (DPW) employee of using a homophobic slur, awarding the complainant $10,000 and ordering improved training in the department.
The case was brought by Michelle Cook, of Sewickley, who said a parks maintenance manager made a reference to her perceived sexual orientation and punched her during a dispute over whether she could walk 12 dogs on a Highland Park hockey court. The 2024 incident led to a two-day hearing of the commission in December.
The commission concluded that the incident constituted discrimination based on presumed sexual orientation through statements and aggression. In addition to $10,000 to address embarrassment and humiliation, the commission ruled that the city must pay Cook’s attorney fees.
The commission also orders the city to:
Inform its employees that they are liable under the city’s code barring discrimination
Train all public works staff on public engagement, discrimination liability, conflict de-escalation and trauma-informed communication
Retrain public works supervisors on investigation of incidents and disciplinary processes
Install signage where dogs are not permitted.
Mayor Corey O’Connor’s administration did not immediately respond to questions from Public Source about the decision. The incident occurred during the tenure of then-Mayor Ed Gainey.
Rich Lord is the managing editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.
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