Ohio: Cincinnati police chief accused of discriminating against white males
A captain and three lieutenants have sued Teresa Theetge alleging that, with her decisions, she seeks to marginalize them and benefit women and people of other races.
Two officers walk near the scene of an accident
Several high-ranking officers with the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) in Ohio have filed a lawsuit against their police chief, Teresa Theetge, for allegedly discriminating against white males when it comes to promotion or decision-making.
The plaintiffs - Capt. Robert Wilson and Lieutenants Patrick Caton, Gerald Hodges and Andrew Mitchell - allege that Theetge and the city engage in "active and systematic efforts" to marginalize white men in the department and benefit women and people belonging to other races with their decisions.
"The City and Chief Theetge have actively and systemically undertaken efforts to promote, advance, and make promotion and assignment decisions that are preferable to women and minorities, and to the exclusion of white men, including through hiring, diversity initiatives, outreach programs, promotional processes, and other steps that demonstrate both a systemic practice of discrimination against white males, and that there are background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority," the plaintiffs allege, according to reports from Fox 19.
Their attorney, Zack Gottesman, said this lawsuit "highlights a troubling pattern of systemic discrimination against white people within the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD)," adding that they are not an "isolated case."
Specifically, the plaintiffs mention several cases in which they were directly affected and which would corroborate such discrimination allegedly carried out by Theetge to favor women and ethnic minorities.
When asked, a city representative and a spokesperson on behalf of Theetge declined to comment, noting that the lawsuit is ongoing.
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