Former Broadmoor officer claims ‘racial harassment’

Lawsuit alleges ‘countless instances’ of racist images and derogatory jokes at his expense

One image that depicted a Lebanese-American police officer Photoshopped into a parade of Islamic State group militants was reportedly hung in the officer’s locker. Another doctored photo apparently showed the officer holding a sword and standing in front of a camel in the desert.

The photos were among “countless instances of racial harassment” the officer, Mark “Tony” Awad, says he faced from fellow officers during two years with the Broadmoor Police Department, which patrols the quiet unincorporated San Mateo County community of about 5,000 residents.

A lawsuit Awad filed last week also alleges the department’s now-former chief, Art Stellini, knew about the racist images and derogatory jokes Awad endured, but did nothing to stop the behavior.

Awad is suing the department and Stellini, who retired as chief in December but continues to work part-time for the department, for racial harassment and creating a hostile work environment, among other allegations.

Also at issue in the suit is Awad’s termination in October 2017 from the department where he worked as an unpaid reserve officer for nearly all of his time on the force. The complaint he filed Friday alleges the department trumped up a misconduct allegation to fire him “rather than address the racially infused atmosphere of the Broadmoor PD.” The lawsuit claims Stellini fired Awad after he was accused of having sex with a civilian while on duty; Awad says the allegation is “patently false.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, as well as attorney’s fees.

Interim Broadmoor Police Chief David Parenti did not respond to a message seeking comment on Awad’s lawsuit Tuesday,

and the police commission that oversees the department declined to comment.

Stellini, who said his retirement had nothing to do with Awad’s complaints, declined to discuss Awad’s firing or any of the specific claims made in the suit.

“As this plays through the system, the truth of the matters will be brought forward,” Stellini said. “I have no comment on the lawsuit at this time.”

Only about a mile across at its widest point and surrounded on all sides by Daly City, Broadmoor is made up of three unincorporated islands of almost entirely residential territory in the northwest corner of San Mateo County. Its police department is made up of nine full-time officers and about 20 unpaid reserve officers.

Awad joined the department as a reserve officer in December 2015, according to his lawsuit. He was promoted to a full-time, paid position in 2017, but says he was demoted back to

the reserves a month later because of budget constraints.

Awad’s allegations of derogatory jokes and comments echo claims made by Nabil Haidar, a Lebanese-American former San Jose police officer who sued the department and city last year. Haidar’s lawsuit, which alleged Islamophobia and a “racism problem” within the department, has not been resolved.

The lawsuit alleges Broadmoor Officer Anthony McKenna and Corporal Kevin Morton,

Awad’s supervisor, used racial epithets and sent him photos “depicting Muslims in a derogatory and harmful manner.” The photos, included as exhibits in Awad’s complaint, reference and depict him while making jokes about car bombs, camels and dynamite.

Neither Morton nor McKenna, who now works for the Colma Police Department, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Awad say that Stellini saw the images, since some of them were posted in Awad’s department locker, and was present at one incident when officers made a “racially charged joke” in front of Awad. Attorneys for Awad claim Stellini turned to him and said, “Hey Awad, you (all right)? If it doesn’t bother you it doesn’t bother me.”

Stellini declined to comment on the incident Tuesday. Awad’s suit states he was in a vulnerable position as an unpaid officer looking to move up in the department, and that he “shook his head in embarrassment and anger but did not want to react and jeopardize his job” after hearing the joke.

“Mr. Awad hoped that one day Broadmoor PD would accept him into the ‘club’ and end the harassing behavior,” attorneys for Awad wrote.