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In Michigan recently, an Ecorse police officer was awarded nearly $900,000 in a racial discrimination lawsuit that claimed he was passed over for a promotion because he is white. According to reporting by the Detroit Free Press, Timothy Sassak, 43, was one of six corporals who took a test in 2004 to determine their eligibility for a promotion to the position of sergeant. Despite the fact that national standards dictate that the cutoff for a passing score is 70, Ecorse city officials upped the score initially to 90 and then lowered it slightly to just below the score of a black corporal they wanted to promote, according to Sassak’s attorney, Amos Williams.
According to court documents, the corporal the department wanted to promote, Gregory Blade, was allowed to leave the testing location with the exam for two hours and turn it in later, while everyone else had to complete the test on site, Williams told reporters.
“Had the exam been scored on the 70 percent, Blade would not have been promoted, and we don’t feel he should have been allowed anyway, considering he left the exam site with the exam,” Williams said in an interview with the Free Press. When Sassak, who has been on the force for 21 years, complained about what he called a flawed process, he was disciplined by former Police Chief George Anthony, Williams said.
Corporal Sassak then filed a grievance on the matter, but was told he would be disciplined further if he pursued his case and did not issue a letter of apology for even filing it, his attorney said. “The city proceeded to discipline him over the next year and a half and then we filed suit, we had no choice.”
During negotiations, Williams said, he and Sassak were willing to settle the matter out of court. “I told the city to give my client $30,000 and the next promotion to sergeant and we’ll be done,” Williams said. “By the time we got back to my office, the city said no. So we went to trial and the jury awarded him $869,000,” Williams told the Free Press.
This isn’t the first time the city has had a major loss by not settling a claim. Williams also sued the city years ago on behalf of a former police chief who was fired in 2004 because of his age and later denied his pension. Sassak says he’s pleased with the resolution but regrets that it had to come to a lawsuit.
“I’m glad it’s over and that I won, but my whole thing is that it was never about the money,” he told reporters. “It was only about the point. I wouldn’t want any other officer to go through what I went through. No matter what race or color you are, you are supposed to be treated fairly and I wasn’t.” Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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