White Michigan Police Officers Fail to Prove Race-Based Discrimination

Social Justice

By ShaCamree Gowdy Published: January 4, 2022

White Michigan Police Officers Fail to Prove Race-Based Discrimination

This photo of a Michigan State Police charger on the expressway was screen grabbed from Michigan.gov. A federal judge has dismissed three lawsuits filed by White police officers in Michigan who claimed they were discriminated against based on race and gender.

In Summary

A federal judge has dismissed lawsuits filed by two former and a current white officer in Michigan on claims they were discriminated against based on their race and gender.

The Michigan State Police and its director allegedly discriminated against Michael Caldwell, Michael McCormick and Robert Hahn because they are white men, a claim the officers failed to prove despite filing federal lawsuits in 2021, per CNN.

In the cases, Caldwell, a former captain, along with McCormick and former officer Hahn, all of whom joined the force in 1990, claimed their employer’s diversity initiative was intended to “displace white males at all levels of the MSP with minorities and females.”

According to District Court Judge Robert J. Jonker, the men produced no concrete evidence of race or gender discrimination by the MSP and its director, Col. Joseph Gasper. The director has been vocal about his desire to diversify the MSP since being appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019.

Following an internal inquiry that found they violated department policy pertaining “to promotion and selection process” when a subordinate’s request for a transfer was denied, Caldwell and Hahn filed similar allegations against MSP, per CNN.

Jonker ruled the two former law enforcement officers failed to show the reasons for their separate disciplines were a cover for illegal racial and gender discrimination, or that their suspension was reprisal for their concerns against the administration’s diversity policies.

Caldwell was demoted from captain to inspector in March 2020, according to the Livingston Daily News, a move he and his lawyer allege was retaliation by the department and Gasper after he spoke out against an “affirmative action” program. He retired in April of the same year and Hahn was fired from his position as state police inspector around the same time.

McCormick’s case was dismissed for reasons including his filing of a post commander application in May 2019 but withdrawing it before it could be considered, effectively disproving his claim he was passed over for the promotion “in favor of a racial minority due to discriminatory and retaliatory animus due to his race.” He is currently still employed by MSP.

“There never was, or will be, employment, promotion, retention, or any other personnel practice decisions made motivated by bias or based on discrimination,” Gasper said, per Michigan Live News. “We are pleased with this conclusion and remain committed to supporting a work environment with equal opportunity for all of our members.”

Reverse discrimination lawsuits have been filed against law enforcement agencies across the country that have implemented affirmative action initiatives since the early 1990s, drawing criticism from legal experts such as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who stated the state’s diversity efforts are not illegal.

Data shows there are 900 white men and 88 white women; 51 Black men and seven Black women; 20 Hispanic men and no Hispanic women; six Asian men and two Asian women; two Arab men; and six Native American men among the 1,900 MSP officers, per CNN.