New Jersey will pay $5 million to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by 13 African-American state troopers who claimed they were harassed and denied promotions. The settlements, which were negotiated separately for each officer, cover back pay and emotional distress, as well as $1 million in attorney fees. The lawsuit alleged that while the state police increased its representation of minority officers after a 1975 consent decree was implemented, the officers who were hired as a result were harassed and intimidated. The plaintiffs in the case also accused the New Jersey State Police of a pattern and practice of racial profiling, nearly a decade before the issue caught national headlines when two white troopers fired on a van occupied by four minority men, wounding three of the men. Racial profiling was determined to have been involved, and the case settled for $12.95 million.
Uncategorized
