City Settles Discrimination Lawsuit by Black Police Captain Demoted by Former Police Chief Diaz

The lawsuit is one of several alleging that the former police chief and SPD discriminated against women and people of color.

SPD Captain Eric Greening

By Erica C. Barnett

The city of Seattle has settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by Seattle Police Department Captain Eric Greening, a former assistant police chief who was demoted by former Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz last year, reportedly for for around $1 million. Greening's lawsuit, which received national attention, alleged that Diaz demoted Greening, who is Black, for raising concerns about discrimination against women and people of color in the department.

SPD general counsel Rebecca Boatright confirmed the settlement, referring more detailed questions to City Attorney Ann Davison's office, which did not immediately respond to PublCola's questions late Monday morning.

Greening's lawsuit is one of many alleging sexist and racist discrimination at SPD under Diaz, who was reassigned by Mayor Bruce Harrell last year to an ill-defined "special projects" role where he continued to collect a $338,000 annual salary until Harrell finally fired him in December.

When Harrell announced he was removing Diaz as chief last May, he praised Diaz as "a good human being" whose "integrity, in my mind, is beyond reproach." At the time, Diaz faced a half-dozen discrimination lawsuits. Immediately after his reassignment, Diaz went on a right-wing talk show to announce that he was gay, which the host said proved his "innocence" of charges that he had harassed women who worked for him, or of the "absurd" claim that was having an affair with a female staffer former FOX newscaster Jamie Tompkins, whom he hired and promoted. (Diaz is married to a woman.)

Ultimately, that alleged affair—not the lawsuits and allegations of harassment and discrimination—is what brought him down, after investigators found he and Tompkins had lied to investigators repeatedly about their relationship.

Steve Hirjak, another former assistant chief, settled his own discrimination lawsuit for $650,000 in 2023.. KUOW reported last year that eight officers had sued over alleged discrimination at the department, including four lawsuits that directly named Diaz. Over the last two city budget cycles, the city's budget has included a cumulative $21 million in extra funding to defend the city and pay out judgments and claims in lawsuits, owing to "extraordinary, high-cost cases and a naFonwide trend of increasingly expensive settlements and judgments," according to the 2025-2026 budget.

Greening's attorney, Toby Marshall, said he was "unable to comment" on the settlement.