Who would have thought racial discrimination works both ways?
A white Dolton police officer has filed a reverse-discrimination lawsuit against the village, alleging that his higher-ups referred to him as a “white speckle” and banned him from wearing black tactical gloves because he wasn’t African-American.
Officer David Graham, who was then the only white member of the tactical squad, instead was forced to wear “fluorescent-yellow” gloves, said his attorney Patrick Walsh. The lawsuit alleges Police Chief Robert Fox told Graham he could not wear black gloves like every other tactical officer because Graham was not black.
Graham alleges that the police department ignored his complaints, promoted less-qualified African-American job applicants over him and demoted him to the patrol division after learning he was going to file a discrimination claim.
“I’m seeing reverse discrimination cases on a large scale in the south suburbs,” Walsh said. “It starts from the top down.”
Dolton last year settled a lawsuit brought by four white part-time firefighters who alleged the town’s fire chief said in 2005 that only black applicants would be hired for two full-time slots. Walsh also handled that case.
Last week, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against south suburban Harvey by four white firefighters. The court found that the men failed to demonstrate they were bypassed for promotions specifically for racial reasons or that the city, which has hired one white person for 32 police department openings since 2003, had a minorities-only hiring policy.
Dolton‘s village attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.