College Park’s current deputy police chief and former city manager have filed a federal lawsuit against the city.
In a joint sexual discrimination lawsuit, Deputy Police Chief Sharis McCrary and former City Manager Darnetta Tyus are alleging the city allows a culture of intimidation and bullying of women throughout the city administration and City Council.
The women’s attorneys filed the lawsuit on their behalf in the U.S. District Court of Georgia’s Northern District on Tuesday, in which they’re asking for a jury trial, monetary damages and more. The suit follows complaints the women filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2022.
College Park has 21 days to respond to the federal lawsuit, Attorney Artur Davis said. He and attorney Jermaine Walker are co-counsel for the women, as well as two other former staffers who plan to sue the city.
City attorney Winston Denmark and Councilman Joe Carn declined comment Thursday, due to the ongoing litigation. And College Park’s Communications Department did not return a phone message left with Mayor Bianca Motley Broom’s office.
McCrary and Tyus are Black women.
McCrary, a 20-year veteran of the police department, served as interim police chief for a year before Chief Connie Rogers was hired for the permanent position last December.
McCrary wanted the job but was blocked from serious consideration, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit describes an occasion before Rogers was hired when a male police colonel proposed a “power-sharing arrangement” to McCrary, in which she could be named chief but would be required to appoint him as deputy.
The lawsuit says that scenario would’ve come with an “implicit understanding that he would be the department’s primary contact with the Council, and would be the principal behind-the-scenes decision-maker while McCrary served as the public face of the Department.”
Tyus was fired by College Park with no explanation during advanced stages of the hiring process for the police chief position, and after working only four months on the job, according to the lawsuit. McCrary was one of the candidates that Tyus was considering.
Tyrus is now city manager of Stone Mountain.
“Tyus, from the start of her appointment, encountered obstacles from the all-male Council … (which) became increasingly aggressive about inserting themselves into daily municipal operations,” the lawsuit says.
Davis said he expects the litigation to be a lengthy process that could last years, and his clients are prepared for a long timeframe.
“It does not appear, from what we have seen, that College Park has a sincere interest in settling this case,” Davis said during a Thursday phone call.
Two other former employees, former Acting Communications Manager Mahersala Howard and former City Engineer Loretta Washington, plan to sue the city in a follow-up to their federal discrimination complaints, according to Davis.
“College Park preaches equality and lifting up its numerous female employees but they don’t practice what they preach,” Davis said in a separate statement. “This lawsuit is the first step to hold the City Council accountable for damaging the careers and self esteem of women who simply want to serve the city.”
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