The city of Seattle will pay nearly $1 million to a Black police captain to settle a lawsuit in which he alleged that the city’s police chief demoted him for reporting racism and discrimination.
Eric Greening, a 30-year veteran with the Seattle Police Department, sued the city and former Police Chief Adrian Diaz in March 2024. Greening alleged that Diaz retaliated against him and reduced his rank after he reported race and gender discrimination within the department while he served in a command position.
Diaz was fired last December by Mayor Bruce Harrell over an improper relationship with his chief of staff.
According to the complaint cited by KING5 and The Seattle Times, Greening, who has been with the Seattle police force since 1994, joined the command staff as an assistant chief in 2017 where he sometimes served as acting chief.
In 2021, he was tapped to lead the department’s Race and Social Justice Initiative Change Team and the Collaborative Policing Bureau.
His new leadership positions made him responsible for reporting racism and gender bias within the police agency to Diaz and propose workable solutions, according to the suit.
Greening raised several concerns to Diaz after observing that the community outreach responsibilities and work regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion were often assigned to women and minority members of the department.
He noted that white commanders, civilian executive directors, and other assistant chiefs were “being absolved of any responsibility to connect with community members in a non-enforcement capacity,” according to the suit.
He also alleged that Diaz excluded women and BIPOC command personnel from decision-making processes, circumvented Black supervisors to make requests directly of their subordinates, and allowed white lieutenants to bypass Collaborative Policing Bureau leadership, which included Greening and other people of color.
Greening discussed these concerns with Diaz at a January 2022 meeting and even gave him a copy of the Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization. Diaz only responded with something along the lines of “I can’t fix all of this,” according to the complaint.
In early 2023, the police department began their search for a new deputy chief and assistant chief. At the time, Diaz required all current assistant chiefs to reapply for their roles. Greening said when he reapplied he was only given a “perfunctory” interview before being demoted to the rank of captain and placed in charge of the Force Review Unit, which came with a $27,000 pay decrease.
Greening said Diaz abolished the Collaborative Policing Bureau after his demotion.
The city’s settlement with Greening awards him $638,000 and his attorneys $312,000. The agreement dictates that Greening must remain on paid leave until a required resignation date on Feb. 1, 2026. He will receive a a retirement plaque and a letter thanking him for his service once he resigns. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
He’ll also receive $73,000 in back wages of his salary as assistant chief and $250,000 in non-economic compensation. His retirement ranking will be changed from police captain back to assistant chief.
After his resignation, the city will pay him $65,000 in wage damages and an additional $250,000 in non-economic damages.
