On September 25, 2017, three detectives of the New York Police Department (NYPD) filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs sued the City of New York, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner, and the NYPD Assistant Chief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state law. The plaintiffs, represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, sought declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. The case was assigned to Judge Gregory H. Woods and referred to Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses.

The plaintiffs filed this action to vindicate the rights of the many African American detectives in the NYPD’s Intelligence Division whose promotions, according to the plaintiffs, were denied or delayed solely based on race. The plaintiffs claimed that NYPD’s Intelligence Division had implemented a secretive and unstructured promotions policy, administered by white supervisors who refused to promote deserving African-Americans detectives. As a result of these policies, the named plaintiffs and other African-American detectives had been repeatedly denied promotions in violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

In 2011, the plaintiffs had filed a complaint against the department with the EEOC. In 2016, the EEOC found that the plaintiffs, and black detectives in general, received lesser and later opportunities for promotion than appropriate given their qualifications. After an attempt at conciliation failed, the EEOC recommended the case to the Department of Justice, which determined not to file suit. The Plaintiffs then brought this suit.

On December 5, 2017, the court entered an order of automatic referral to mediation pursuant to the court’s standing Administrative Order of May 24, 2015. The standing order required that all counseled employment discrimination cases, except those brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, were to be automatically referred to the Southern District of New York’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program of mediation upon the filing of an answer.

On January 19, 2018, the parties entered into a stipulated confidentiality agreement, setting out terms for the rest of discovery. Discovery continued until April 4th, 2019, when the parties reached a confidential settlement agreement. The New York Daily News reported that the agreement included $700,000 in damages to cover backpay and loss of reputation.

On April 4, the court ordered that the action be discontinued with prejudice (since the court does not retain jurisdiction to enforce confidential settlements), unless the plaintiffs moved within 30 days to restore the action to the active calendar. The plaintiffs were granted three extensions to this deadline, but did not move to restore the action, and the court closed the case in July of 2019.

Jake Parker - 06/20/2018
Jonah Feitelson - 03/26/2020


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