Opinion ID: 4680217
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Workplace Harassment

Text: Plaintiff points to a number of incidents, social media posts, and Department reports as contributing to or confirming the existence of a racially hostile workplace during his career as a Detroit police officer. These include the following: No. 19-2373 Strickland v. City of Detroit, Mich., et al. Page 3 • An African American friend and co-worker was called “boy” by a white police officer. • A statement in 2015 by Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt that: “Some whites don’t like blacks, some blacks don’t like whites. Some men don’t like women, some women don’t like blacks. I’ve dealt with racial tension before. And I’m not the most PC person, but get over it. You’re wearing blue.” (News Article, R. 36-16, Page ID #945.) • A social media post by a Department employee stating: “The only racists here are the piece of shit black Lives Matter terrorists and their supporters . . . .” (EEOC Charge, R. 36-15, Page ID #939.) • An online post by a Department employee stating: “Getting rid of residency was the best thing that ever happened to the Detroit Police!!! We have to police the garbage but you can’t make us live in the garbage.” (Id.) • A Snapchat video that surfaced in 2019 depicting Detroit police officers mocking a stranded African American female motorist with captions including: “What black girl magic looks like” and “Celebrating Black History Month.” (Sixth Precinct Environmental Audit, R. 39-2, Page ID #1025.) • A Snapchat post of a uniformed officer captioned: “Another night to Rangel [sic] up these zoo animals.” (News Article, R. 39-3, Page ID #1045.) • Body camera footage showing Corporal Gary Steele and Officer Michael Garrison referring to African Americans as “Keishas” and “Homies.” (Sixth Precinct Environmental Audit, R. 39-2, Page ID #1030.) These alleged instances only represent a portion of the racial harassment that Plaintiff has observed in over a decade at the Department. In addition, he claims he has directly experienced racial discrimination. He contends that he was denied desired shift assignments and trainings in favor of white officers. At one point, he worked in the same precinct as Steele and Garrison, who were responsible for a number of racial incidents, and despite his efforts to talk to them, they would not speak to him and isolated him. Plaintiff personally observed white supervisors disrespecting African American officers throughout his tenure as a police officer and was disrespected himself. Two Department reports recognized racial issues in the Detroit police force. In response to concerns about inequality related to race, gender, and sexual orientation, Police Chief James Craig formed the Committee on Race and Equality (“CORE”). The CORE report was submitted to Chief Craig on January 12, 2017. The committee concluded “that the department has a No. 19-2373 Strickland v. City of Detroit, Mich., et al. Page 4 growing racial problem.” (CORE Report, R. 39-4, Page ID #1048.) It reached this conclusion after its investigation uncovered discriminatory practices like segregated units, which were predominantly staffed by white officers in a majority African American police force. Moreover, the CORE committee also found that African American officers who complained about bias in appointments and training were retaliated against. Similarly, in response to the Snapchat post of officers stranding and mocking an African American motorist that surfaced in February 2019, Chief Craig ordered an environmental audit of the Department’s Sixth Precinct. Although Plaintiff never worked in the Sixth Precinct, a cochair of the CORE committee, retired police officer John Bennett, affirmed that “[t]he problems that Chief Craig is at long last addressing in the Sixth Precinct were observed in varying degrees throughout the police department by the CORE committee in 2016.” (Bennett Aff., R. 39-5, Page ID #1057.) As a result of the audit, “the Department conclude[d] that the 6th Precinct is racially divided. Although this racial division does not appear to be widespread throughout the entire precinct, the amount of racial division exists at a level warranting further corrective measures.” (Sixth Precinct Environmental Audit, R. 39-2, Page ID #1030.)