March 3, 2015
Current Events
The black officers sued the Memphis Police Department in the early 2000s, alleging that the tests the city used to determine promotions discriminated against minorities. Although a lower court sided with the plaintiffs and allowed several officers to be promoted, a federal appeals court has since overturned the decision. Now, the Memphis PD has turned the clocks back on the black officers in retaliation for their lawsuit.
“The city wants to give an ultimatum: If you all continue on [with the lawsuit], we’re going to demote you back to patrolman,” said Lt. Tyrone Currie, the treasurer of the Afro-American Police Association Memphis branch, which supports the plaintiffs. He noted that most of the officers have over 20 years on the job and have earned equivalent benefits, while patrolmen tend to be officers in their early 20s.
“You should not retaliate against people just because they’re exercising their constitutional right to an appeal,” he added.
However, George Little, chief administrative officer for the City of Memphis, believes that since the initial ruling allowed some of the plaintiffs to make more money off of their promotions, it is now within the city’s right to get its money back.
“We can say fine, not only are we going to bump you back to whatever your former position was, we want our money back that you weren’t entitled to,” Little said.
Stay tuned…this story is bound to get a whole lot worse before it ever gets better!
