CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Two minority police officers are on paid leave in Chillicothe after one of them filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination. Now, the lawyers representing the officer in his lawsuit say it is retaliation.
The officer — who the Guardian is not naming — filed suit in August against the Chillicothe Police Department alleging a host of allegations, including discrimination based on claims that he was denied promotions, training opportunities, and career advancements, among other things as a result of the color of his skin.
On Thursday, a modified lawsuit was filed in the case where the officer’s legal team named the town’s mayor, Luke Fenney, safety director, Jeff Carman, police chief Ron Meyers, and captains Michael Short, Tim Gay, and Chris Dubay, along with retired police chief Keith Washburn as personal defendants.
In the modified suit, lawyers wrote that after the officer filed his lawsuit in August the harassment from the city’s administration became tenser. In one cited instance, the officer’s wife was dragged into the middle of the debacle after she filed a police report against another private citizen for telecommunications harassment. Because a black officer took the report, the administration claims that two African-American police officers co-conspired to fabricate a police report to help the Plaintiff, despite phone records proving the claims lodged in the police report.
“To say that two police officers conspired to fabricate a police report is ridiculous to help someone out in a custody dispute is silly,” said legal expert Brian Adams. “To further assert that they’re co-conspirators because they are both black is out of line for the city.”
According to the lawsuit, the city gave the two officers polygraph exams about the report taking, in which the suit says, “…. CPD informed Plaintiff that he failed the polygraph test in its entirety. CPD even informed Plaintiff that he was dishonest about his first name, last name, street address, and the names of his children.”
Immediately, both minority officers were ordered to hand over their guns, badges, and radios, and were placed on paid leave on December 26. All of this after the original lawsuit was filed, lawyers said, and only in an attempt to further harass and eventually terminate the men.
“We have a serious issue in Chillicothe,” opined Ohio-based NAACP member Tamika Smith. “If the allegations in the original lawsuit weren’t bad enough, we now have the city preparing to fire two black officers because one of them took a police report from another’s family member? When is the last time a white person took a police report from a white person? This mayor is out of control; this police chief is out of control; and the city council should be exercising their authority under Ohio law and launching investigations into the administration’s conduct. The police chief and mayor perhaps should be more concerned about their own demons and addictions than trying to go after minorities who are doing their jobs.”