America First Legal sued Philadelphia and its police department Wednesday over the department's allegedly discriminatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hiring and promotion practices.

The legal foundation said it filed the lawsuit on behalf of white male police officers within the department who were allegedly passed over for promotions because of their gender and race, despite having high civil exam scores, strong service records, positive annual performance reviews, and significant law-enforcement experience.

The lawsuit directly challenges the city's “Rule of Five” policy, which was passed in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, which allows city officials to choose from the five top contenders for a position instead of the two top contenders and is designed to increase diversity in supervisory positions. 

AFL argues the "Rule of Five" policy was created to bypass white male candidates in order to promote lower-ranked minority candidates. 

“Federal civil-rights law prohibits employers from making promotion decisions based on race or sex,” Nick Barry, Senior Counsel at America First Legal, said in a statement. “Put simply, employers cannot use protected characteristics to override merit. Promotions must be based on excellence, experience, and performance, not on the race or sex of the candidate.” 

Wally Zimolong of Zimolong LLC and Jonathan F. Mitchell of Mitchell Law PLLC are serving as AFL’s co-counsel in the lawsuit.