The city of Philadelphia is facing a lawsuit from five police officers who claim they were denied promotions because of their race and sex.
The plaintiffs include Lieutenants Christopher Bloom, Kollin Berg and Joseph Musumeci, as well as Sergeants Marc Monachello and LeRoy Ziegler Jr., all of whom are White males. The class-action lawsuit alleges that in November 2025, the five officers were denied promotions because of their race and sex due to the city's "Rule of Five" policy.
"The City of Philadelphia has adopted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) promotion policy that it calls the 'Rule of Five,' which was instituted for the express purpose of increasing the representation of minority and female candidates in supervisory positions within the City of Philadelphia at the expense of white men," the lawsuit reads.
For decades, Philadelphia had used the "Rule of Two," which mandated appointing authorities to choose between the top two candidates on the civil-service eligibility list for promotions. The practice ended in 2021 when the city adopted its "Varying Rule" policy, commonly known as the "Rule of Five," which gives the appointing authorities the ability to choose from a larger pool of candidates.
When introducing the 2021 policy, then-City Council Member race and gender.
The lawsuit makes several requests for relief, including a permanent end to the "Rule of Five" and a ban on considering race and sex for hiring or promotions. Additionally, the lawsuit asks that the plaintiffs be promoted to their respective ranks. It also asks that the plaintiffs be given retroactive seniority, benefits and back pay for what they lost by not being promoted in November 2025.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment. Mitchell and the FOP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Philadelphia mayor's office for comment but did not immediately hear back.