A jury has awarded five former and current Black University of Washington police officers a $16 million verdict in their racial discrimination lawsuit against the college.
The verdict came in on Dec. 22 following a six-week trial against the University of Washington Police Department.
According to The Seattle Times, testimony at the trial revealed multiple instances of racism and hostility aimed at the plaintiffs Russell Ellis Jr., Gabriel Golden, Hamani Nowlen, Damien Taylor, and Karinn Young.
The lawsuit states that the UWPD officers were subjected to “widespread acts of racial harassment and discrimination” within the UW Police Department, including the use of the N‐word. The officers said they were also subjected to racist stereotypes, physical intimidation and other racial slurs, while white officers received “preferential treatment” that the managers of the university were aware of. The complaint also accused management of threatening Black officers who reported misconduct and of blocking their promotion attempts.
“UWPD has a culture of racial insults and mistreatment that UWPD management is aware of and sometimes directly involved in,” the claim states. “In addition to the pervasive racial harassment, UWPD managers have also threatened Black officers to keep them from seeking promotions and retaliated against those who have reported misconduct.”
The officers’ attorney, Toby Marshall, told the outlet that the UW “turned a blind eye” to the problems in its police department. “Our hope — and our clients’ hope — is that UW can no longer look away.”
The harassment dates all the way back to 1998, according to the lawsuit, when one white sergeant distributed flyers with negative racial stereotypes and jokes at roll call. After a Black officer complained about the flyers and the “general culture of hostility toward Black officers” internally, the sergeant was put on paid leave to take diversity…
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