By David Worley

In Maraschiello v. City of Buffalo Police Dep’t, 117 FEP Cases 665 (2d Cir. 2013), the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that summary judgment was proper when a white Buffalo Police captain was denied a promotion after he refused to take the new aptitude test, which he claimed was implemented to give an unfair advantage to minorities.  The court found that because the employer instituted the new aptitude test in a racially neutral manner, and the new test was designed to eliminate previous racial bias, the new test could not be considered to have an adverse racial impact. [Read more…]

By Mitchel Wilson

In Zasada v. City of Englewood, 117 FEP Cases 1454 (2013), the court denied the City’s motion to dismiss Zasada’s claim of a hostile work environment because of his national origin, claim of discrimination based on national origin, and equal protection claims when he was referred to in a derogatory manner and experienced an adverse employment action. [Read more…]

By Kate Acheson

A trooper who complained numerous times of disparate treatment, filed suit after his eventual termination, claiming his employer violated Title VII by discriminating and retaliating against him due to his race.  In Reaves v. Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania District Court found, “although the evidence [was] rather tenuous,” enough material dispute of fact existed for the trooper’s retaliation claim to survive summary judgment and go to the jury.  The trooper’s other Title VII claim – for discrimination – lacked sufficient evidence and was rejected as a matter of law.

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By Cynthia McNabb

As suspected when the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2009, in the case of Ricci v. DeStefano, reverse discrimination cases among police and firefighters are in the headlines, with several verdicts reached favoring the plaintiffs who have brought reverse discrimination cases against their employers.

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