NYPD Review Board Members Drop Sexism Lawsuit Against Board Chair After His Resignation

Two weeks after the chairman of New York City’s police oversight board resigned from his post, the board’s executive director and her deputy have dropped the sexism lawsuit that prompted the chairman’s resignation.

On April 12, Civilian Complaint Review Board Executive Director Mina Malik and her deputy, Robia Charles, brought a lawsuit against their boss, CCRB Chairman Richard Emery. The suit alleged that Emery referred to female employees as “pussies,” and that Emery slashed Malik’s responsibilities at the board when she filed a formal complaint about his behavior.

Malik and Charles’s lawyer told the New York Times that the plaintiffs were dropping the suit because of Mayor de Blasio’s “swift and decisive” acceptance of Emery’s resignation, and that they reserved the right to refile the suit at any time. “We hope that the filing of this lawsuit sends a powerful message to all of those who silently suffer at the hands of discriminatory and retaliatory employers that the legal system can create positive change,” the attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, told the Times.

Emery denies the claim of sexism, calling the suit against him “frivolous and a distraction.”

Earlier this year, The New York Daily News reported that the chairman’s private law practice represented a client who was suing the NYPD based in part on a complaint he’d filed with the CCRB. Police union officials, eager to pile on a guy who makes his living criticizing the police, called Emery out on the apparent conflict of interest, and he responded by saying they were “squealing like stuck pigs.” Nice choice of words.