Philadelphia City Hall
PHILADELPHIA – A former Philadelphia city employee alleges she was subjected to sexual harassment from the son of a state senator and racism while working at a job she never asked for.
Shanelle Davis sued the City Friday in federal court after being fired from her scheduler position. She started in 2022 as a constituent representative, but she was reassigned a month later and promised a raise that never happened, the suit says.
What did occur, she says, were inappropriate comments from Sharif Street Jr., the son of state Sen. Sharif Street. He also once grabbed her butt and said, “that s--- is really soft,” the suit alleges.
Street Jr. is not named as a defendant but has a history of criminal charges, like a guilty plea to a hit-and-run that injured a 14-year-old girl who was walking to church in 2023 and a fight at the inauguration of Mayor Cherelle Parker in 2024.
Harassment from Street Jr. continued and was permitted thanks to his political connection, the suit says. Davis, a Black woman, also claims a coworker would use the N-word and made comments like, “you guys are out of your cotton pickin’ minds.”
Ultimately she was fired over her job performance, though she notes that she was never trained for the scheduler position. Davis says the “role was forced upon her,” and she performed her duties in a satisfactory manner.
Her firing was actually retaliation for her complaints about the workplace, Davis says. She is represented by Marc Weinberg of Saffren & Weinberg.
