On August 27, 2019, the United States filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The plaintiff sued Baltimore County for injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-6(a) for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Department of Justice alleged that the Baltimore County Police Department engaged in discriminatory conduct in its recruitment and hiring practices.

Specifically, plaintiff alleged that the Baltimore County Office of Human Resources and Baltimore County Police Department developed and issued a series of discriminatory written exams to screen entry-level police officer applicants. Three different variations of the exam were used from 2009-2013, 2014, and 2015-2016. All three variations resulted in statistically significant differences in pass rates among African American applicants compared to Caucasian applicants. The exams were allegedly used as a pass/fail screening device in a multi-stage application in which those who failed were not permitted to move on to subsequent stages of the application process. Plaintiff alleges that these exams are not job related consistent with business necessity and do not otherwise meet the requirements of Section 703(k) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k). As a result of these exams, BCPD has hired fewer African American applicants as BCPD entry-level police officers and police cadets since January 1, 2013, than it would have had it used a nondiscriminatory screening device.

Thus, the plaintiff sought injunctive relief requiring that the defendant:

1. Refrain from using written exams to screen applicants that result in a disparate impact on African Americans where such exams are not consistent with business necessity and do not otherwise meet the requirements of Section 703(k) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(k);
2. Provide remedial relief to and make whole all persons who have suffered individual loss as a result of the discrimination alleged; and
3. Adopt other appropriate nondiscriminatory measures to correct the present effects of its discriminatory policies and practices.

The complaint was answered on September 17, 2019 and a proposed schedule for discovery should be filed by November 1, 2019.

The case is ongoing.

Kevin Longhany - 09/26/2019


compress summary