The Seattle Police Department has agreed to a 2.6 million dollar settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought by four female officers who accused the department of gender discrimination. The agreement brings a financial conclusion to a case that put the conduct of the department's former leadership under scrutiny and raised broader questions about how women were treated within its ranks.
The lawsuit was filed in 2024 by officers Kamei Spencer, Jean Golpin, Valerie Carson and Lauren Truscott. The four women took their complaints to court, setting out a series of allegations about the way they say they were treated by senior figures in the department and the obstacles they encountered as they sought to advance in their careers.
At the center of their claims was the department's former police chief, Adrian Diaz. According to the suit, Diaz and the command staff groomed, harassed and passed the officers over for promotions because they are women. The officers framed those decisions not as isolated incidents but as a pattern that affected their standing and opportunities within the force.
The case also included a more personal allegation. According to the reporting, one of the officers accused Diaz of trying to persuade her into a romantic relationship by offering to help her with her career. That claim added another dimension to the lawsuit, linking professional advancement directly to personal pressure from a senior leader.
Diaz, who has since come out as gay, had previously denied the accusations against him. His denial means that, even with the settlement now agreed, the underlying allegations were contested, and the agreement resolves the legal dispute without amounting to an admission that plays out further in court over the specific claims made by the officers.
The law firm representing the women welcomed the outcome. In a statement, the firm said in part that it was happy to see the city of Seattle take accountability for what it described as a clear lapse in leadership by the previous administration. The remarks framed the settlement as recognition of failings at the top of the department during that period.
The settlement closes a chapter that centered on the leadership of the Seattle Police Department under its former chief. FOX 13 Seattle, which reported the agreement, said it had reached out to the department for comment and was still waiting to hear back, leaving the department's own response to the resolution of the case outstanding for now.