“Officer Pierce is in this for the long haul and he understands that he has taken a challenging position because he is still working [at Harvard],” she said.

“[He] has a lot of friends and colleagues in the Department and good relationships with his colleagues and he doesn’t see that diminishing because he’s doing the right thing.”

According to Messing, the case was originally pending at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination but was removed so that he could file a federal complaint instead.

Messing said that Pierce felt that the case could be most effectively addressed in a court proceeding, which is how similar cases are often resolved.

Messing said that her firm has handled a number of cases of against Harvard and HUPD on issues relating to discrimination, including a 2002 gender discrimination case that was eventually resolved at the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

“Some of the cases Harvard has been very interested in resolving, and some they have not had an interest in resolving,” Messing said.

“We are hopeful that they will want to resolve this case, but we can’t rely on that.”

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.