Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Philadelphia\u2019s former chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer has said before<\/a> that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker<\/a> and top administration officials scapegoated her after she reported sexual harassment in City Hall and then fired her \u201cunjustly.\u201d<\/p>\n But in an explosive new lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia this week, that officer, Brandee Anderson, claimed her termination was part of a coordinated effort<\/a> to \u201csuppress\u201d or rebrand diversity work and came as a top Parker administration official made derisive comments about other DEI leaders.<\/p>\n She claimed Parker \u2014 a centrist Democrat who is Black and the city\u2019s first female mayor \u2014 said in 2025 that she \u201cdid not care about Ms. Anderson\u2019s \u2018DEI ideology,\u2019 only minority business.\u201d <\/p>\n And she alleged in the lawsuit that the mayor threatened to remove any administration official who expressed dissenting views, telling a gathering of senior officials that no one \u201chas a right to have an opinion about where we are going.\u201d <\/p>\n The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeks unspecified damages and payment of lost wages as a result of her firing. Parker is named as a defendant, as are Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley, Inspector General Alexander DeSantis, and communications director Joe Grace. Anderson claimed DeSantis and Grace defamed and retaliated against her in statements to the media<\/a> after her firing.<\/p>\n Anderson served as Parker\u2019s chief DEI officer beginning in 2024, advising the mayor and administration on matters such as workforce diversity, community engagement, equitable budgeting, and minority business opportunities. She also oversaw offices that serve LGBTQ+ residents and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n She was fired in 2025 after Tyrell Brown,<\/a> then the director of the Philadelphia Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, reported to Anderson that they had received a \u201csemi-nude\u201d photo from a senior administration official. Anderson says in the lawsuit that she was fired days after elevating the matter to Garrett Harley and human resources officials.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Why Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s administration fired its top DEI and LGBTQ affairs officials due to a \u2018semi-nude\u2019 photo neither sent<\/a><\/p>\n The city declined to comment on the lawsuit and generally does not answer questions about pending litigation.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was the second filed against the city by a former DEI official during Parker\u2019s tenure. Leslie Marant, the Philadelphia Police Department<\/a>\u2019s first DEI chief, who was fired in the first days of Parker\u2019s administration<\/a>, said in a federal lawsuit filed in October that she was a victim of the systemic discrimination that she was tasked with addressing<\/a>. That litigation is ongoing. <\/p>\n It was also the second time this month that a former Parker administration official accused senior administration members of fostering a toxic work environment.<\/p>\n Shania Bennett, the former director of the Philadelphia Office of Youth Engagement, last week posted on social media that working for the city was \u201cthe worst experience of [her] life\u201d and that she had quit her job after \u201cunprofessional harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n Bennett could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n \u2018Stand down\u2019 on DEI matters<\/p>\n Anderson, an attorney who founded a firm that creates anti-racist trainings, was hired in October 2024 to lead the city\u2019s DEI efforts. In the lawsuit, she alleges that Parker officials undermined her authority from the outset. <\/p>\n She claimed Parker forbade her from contacting members of City Council with whom she had existing relationships. And she said Garrett Harley, one of Parker\u2019s most senior officials, told her and other DEI leaders to \u201cstand down\u201d if they expressed dissenting views, saying \u201cif you can\u2019t align with the mayor\u2019s strategy, DEI may not be the job for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Anderson also claimed Garrett Harley made discriminatory comments about a transgender official, Celena Morrison-McLean, former director of the Philadelphia Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, who reported to Anderson. Garrett Harley, the lawsuit alleges, instructed Anderson to \u201cdocument Celena [Morrison-McLean] out,\u201d or create a paper trail leading to her dismissal. <\/p>\n According to the lawsuit, the deputy mayor also mocked Morrison-McLean during a meeting with several other officials, saying she used a \u201cdeep male tone\u201d to intimidate staff.<\/p>\n Morrison-McLean left her post in November 2024<\/a>, roughly eight months after she was pulled over by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper<\/a> in a traffic stop that went viral<\/a> and resulted in her and her husband\u2019s arrest<\/a>. <\/p>\n She is now a consultant, according to her LinkedIn profile. She could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n Anderson said in the lawsuit that Garrett Harley also made comments to her in early 2025 that she saw as fostering a hostile work environment. She claims she disclosed to Garrett Harley that she was the victim of rape and asked for time off to attend a hearing in the criminal case against her alleged assailant.<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Garrett-Harley responded,\u201d the lawsuit says, \u201cby questioning how one woman could rape another.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate instance, Garrett Harley also instructed Anderson to delete emails documenting dangers to children in the city\u2019s care, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit did not elaborate on the content of the emails.<\/p>\n Harassment report and press fallout<\/p>\n Brown was appointed in March 2025<\/a> to succeed Morrison-McLean as the city\u2019s director of LGBTQ+ affairs. In July 2025, Brown reported to Anderson that Christopher Dailey, then a deputy chief of staff in the mayor\u2019s office, had sent them a sexual image on a cruising app. <\/p>\n At the time, Anderson said<\/a> Brown told her they did not feel harassed by the photo, partly because it was not clear whether Dailey knew to whom he had sent the image, which included Dailey\u2019s face. Brown\u2019s profile was anonymous, Anderson said, but the app used geolocation, meaning that users would have known they were contacting someone in or near City Hall.<\/p>\n Anderson elevated Brown\u2019s report to human resources roughly a week later, the complaint says, leading DeSantis, the city\u2019s inspector general, to launch an investigation.<\/p>\n By July 22, Anderson was fired. DeSantis has said Anderson never possessed the photo, but allowed Brown to display it while another employee besides Anderson, their supervisor, was in the room. That decision, DeSantis said, constituted a violation of the city\u2019s sexual harassment policy. <\/p>\n Brown was<\/a> fired the same week as Anderson. Parker tasked Garrett Harley with handling the office\u2019s work through March, when the administration named a replacement.<\/a><\/p>\n Anderson\u2019s lawsuit claims racial discrimination, noting that Dailey, who is white, was not fired, but was instead moved to a new role in a different office. Brown and Anderson are both Black.<\/p>\n Brown could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n Additionally, Anderson claimed that Parker, DeSantis, and Grace each made \u201cfalse and defamatory\u201d statements in the media after she was fired. <\/p>\n