An India-born US national has won USD 10,000 in compensation after winning a lawsuit against Chicago city for being discriminated by its police department in hiring.
Chicago City Council this week signed off on a USD 3.1 million settlements that would hire eight immigrants as Chicago Police officers and compensate 47 immigrants who were denied that chance because of a discriminatory rule that required applicants to have lived in the US for the previous 10 years.
As per the settlement, India-born Masood Khan and Belize-born Glenford Flowers, who passed the Chicago police entrance exam in 2006 and were turned away because they did not meet the residency requirement, would receive USD 10,000 each, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
It calls for the city to hire up to eight qualified applicants from the discriminated class of 47 immigrants, provided there are eight who meet the Chicago Police Department's hiring criteria except for the maximum age requirement.
All eight hired class members would be eligible to receive retroactive retirement benefits. If the hiring is completed by October 3 and those eight officers fully fund the employee contribution, the city's share would be just over USD 1 million. Back pay and damages is expected to top USD 2 million.
In addition, the city will pay the two original plaintiffs USD 10,000 each.
The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit against Chicago City Council after Khan and Flowers' charges of discrimination were upheld by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the case was referred to it.
In its lawsuit, separate from its investigation into the Chicago Police Department's use-of-force practices, Department of Justice alleged that both Khan and Flowers passed the police entrance exam in 2006, and were turned away because they did not meet the residency requirement.
In 2011, the residency requirement was reduced from 10 years to five years.
The lawsuit sought back pay, interest on the "amount of lost wages and benefits" and compensatory damages for the "pain, suffering and medical expenses" caused by the city's discriminatory hiring practice.
However, three of the Chicago Council's 50 aldermen objected to this settlement.
First Assistant Corporation Counsel Jane Elinor Notz noted that the rule mandating that all police hopefuls have lived in the US for at least 10 years before becoming Chicago Police officers was imposed to "ensure that applicants had sufficient contacts in the United States for CPD to conduct an adequate background check".
"There's really no record about why that decision was made. However, when the department did move to the five-year standard and it served its legitimate business needs, we really had no defence to this lawsuit," Notz said.
New Delhi-born Choudhry, an expert in comparative
constitutional law, was named the 12th dean of Berkeley Law in 2014 after a national search that considered both internal and external candidates to head one of the nation's top law schools.
As the lawsuit was filed, the school had asked Choudhry to apologise to the victim but Steele and Dirks said the university "can and must do better as a campus administration. We must move in the direction of stronger sanctions, and in doing this we want and need the broad input of the campus community."
"We are sharply focused on this issue and committed to ensuring a supportive and safe environment for every single person on this campus. We will act quickly to generate action that will produce lasting change in our culture and practices," they said.
Under the University of California's tenure policy, Choudhry remains a member of the school's faculty at present.
He had released a statement to the Berkeley community earlier this week, saying he disagreed with the allegations and that he will continue to cooperate with the University in the investigation.
"While I disagree with the plaintiff's claims and allegations, and will defend against them, I am unfortunately unable to comment on the substance of the lawsuit. However, I can say that I cooperated fully with, and take extremely seriously, the University's confidential investigation into this matter and ensuing sanction. I will continue to cooperate fully with the University as matters unfold," he had said.
The lawsuit also alleges that in September 2014, the victim had told Chief of Staff and Assistant Dean Marilyn Byrne that Choudhry's "constant kisses, hugs and touching made her uncomfortable."
Court documents allege that Choudhry's behavior became more aggressive and "occurred multiple times per day".
