Married father of three alleges twisted harassment campaign by NYPD bosses, and the details in his lawsuit are disturbing

A detective working for the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau says his bosses and a coworker sexually and racially harassed him at work. Detective Jonathan Calderon claims the problems began as soon as he started working for the unit in May 2023.

Calderon is 38 years old and has worked for the NYPD since 2008. He is married with three kids and is from Colombia. He filed the lawsuit last month in Manhattan Supreme Court with help from his lawyer John Scola, as per NY Post.

The married father of three alleges a twisted harassment campaign by NYPD bosses that included being called racist names, having sex toys put on his desk, and being threatened by his supervisor. The lawsuit says his boss Captain Darryl Knight called him “the spic” and “that spic” multiple times in front of other police officers.

Things got worse over time

The lawsuit talks about several incidents with sex toys that Detective Alejandro Polanco-Cortiz allegedly did. In July 2023, Polanco-Cortiz put a large black dildo on Calderon’s desk and called him a rude name. Another time, he stuck a fake orange penis to Calderon’s desk and put another one on the floor.

One of the worst claims in the lawsuit says Polanco-Ortiz came up behind Calderon while he was sitting at his desk and rubbed his penis against Calderon’s back through his clothes while asking him in Spanish if he liked it. The lawsuit also mentions other things like a deer head being left in his chair, someone writing “rat” on his locker, and a fake rubber rat being placed on his desk.

When Calderon reported the sexual harassment to the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, things got even worse for him. He says his bosses started getting back at him by taking away his overtime hours and looking for reasons to punish him.

At a meeting with the whole unit in late 2024, Knight pulled out his gun while talking about people making complaints and yelled, “I don’t know who the fuck is complaining!” The threatening behavior adds to growing concerns about misconduct within New York City law enforcement.

The lawsuit also says Knight saw that Calderon’s face was swollen from stress and told everyone loudly that Calderon “has herpes.” Early this year, Knight told Calderon, “I need two people of your kind to work.” When Calderon asked what he meant, Knight said “spics” and added “I prefer the ones with no papers.”

Losing his overtime pay hurt Calderon financially. He had to borrow more than $40,000 from his pension in 2024 and 2025 just to feed his family and pay for his house. The whole situation also made him sick, giving him a rash on his face and making his lips swell up. Incidents like this highlight ongoing safety and conduct issues in New York City.

Calderon moved to a different group within IAB in May 2025. Knight got transferred to the Brooklyn Court Section in September. An NYPD spokesperson said the department does not allow sexual harassment and is looking into what happened. Knight said he had no comment when someone called him, and the other two men named in the lawsuit did not answer their phones.