http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-a1cop.suitsep06,0,621093.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines
By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
September 16, 2006
Seven minority Greenwich police officers were passed over for
promotion because of their performance, not systematic racism,
according to the town's response to a federal discrimination
lawsuit.
The 30-page response filed in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport
Sept. 6 claims the suit's allegations misrepresent management
decisions and says it was factors such as citizen complaints and
misconduct that hindered the officers' advancement.
The plaintiffs in the case are Officers Terral Hardy, Scott
Johnson, John Woodward, Robert Brown and Vincent O'Banner, who
are black, and John Rodriguez and Carlos Franco, who are
Hispanic.
The suit, filed in May, seeks damages for lost income and
benefits and for emotional harm. The officers also seek court
oversight of the town's hiring procedures to prevent race
discrimination.
The suit alleged that civilian minority group members, whether
arrested or simply looking for help, have been belittled and
mistreated by white officers regularly. The response did not
admit or deny specific allegations of discrimination or
mistreatment of minorities.
Town Attorney John Wayne Fox said the town worked hard to
investigate the allegations in the suit.
"Although it's not our policy to debate litigation in the
media, we reviewed the fact patterns and I think our answers are
very detailed. We plan to defend this case and
aggressively," Fox said.
The response acknowledged several instances of racist comments by
officers, but said the offenses were handled briskly by the
administration.
In response to the claim that a detective was ordered by a
sergeant to apologize to a black female police officer for
referring to her as "Buckwheat," after the Little
Rascals character, the town says the woman declined to file a
formal complaint. Another use of a racial epithet for blacks
resulted in a lieutenant being disciplined, according to the
response.
The response also said a probationary police officer who used a
slur referring to blacks complied with a request to resign rather
than be fired.
The response denies the contention that the seven officers were
victims of prejudice when they were passed over for promotions or
prestigious assignments that went to white officers.
In one instance, the officers alleged that the police department
deliberately delayed filling three open sergeant positions to
avoid promoting Brown by waiting past a point when a list on
which Brown was ranked second in terms of eligibility was out of
date. Hardy and Rodriguez also were among the top 10 eligible
candidates on that list.
The response asserts the town was within its rights to update the
list, regardless of the color of the candidates.
"It is a normal practice to make appointments from within
the existing list," Fox said. "We are having some
difficulty understanding what their complaint is, because we were
conforming to the normal procedure."
The response also claims that some of the minority officers had
been disciplined for misconduct over the years.
For example, the town claims that Officer Hardy's record includes
complaints that he voided infraction tickets improperly and made
an "unauthorized entry into a residence."
Police Chief James Walters has said that the department's hiring
and assignment process was not influenced by prejudice.
"I will say all promotions and assignments within the police
department are based on merit," Walters said in June.
Lewis Chimes, the New Haven-based attorney for the officers,
declined comment.
Fox and Chimes have said they are still discussing whether to
mediate the case with a federal magistrate.
The town is already facing a Commission of Human Rights and
Opportunities investigation about a case in which a group of
minority women have said they were discriminated against when
they were denied entry to Greenwich Point Park.
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.