By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh, Pa. Post-Gazette
A former Pittsburgh police officer who was among a group of black officers whose claims of racial discrimination on the force were thrown out last year lost her appeal this week before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appellate court ruled that Charlotte Page, who quit going to work in 1995, has no case against the city.
“We agree with the [U.S.] District Court that Page has not produced evidence of pervasive and regular harassment premised on her race,” wrote Judge Maryanne Trump Barry.
In 2003, former U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich granted summary judgment for the city in Page’s case and in six similar complaints brought by black officers, ruling that none of them could make a case.
Page, who was hired in 1993, said that during a three-month span beginning in October 1995, her superiors subjected her to a hostile work environment because she’s black. She stopped going to work in December 1995, she said, because of harassment.
She cited among her complaints an incident in which her sergeant singled her out during roll call and said she had to improve her report writing.
In his ruling last year, Cindrich said that kind of complaint hardly rises to the level of racial discrimination.
“Being singled out by a sergeant during roll call as needing lots of help cannot reasonably be attributed to racism,” the judge said. “This comment is particularly benign in light of the fact that Page had just returned from over a year of injury leave.”
Cindrich also rejected Page’s claim that police brass Charles Moffatt, who has since left the force, and William Mullen didn’t address her problems.
When Page complained about her partner, for example, Mullen made sure the two weren’t teamed up anymore.
“The record leads to the inescapable conclusion,” said Cindrich, “that the police department undertook reasonable efforts to remedy her complaints.”
The 3rd Circuit said Page was unable to show a persistent pattern of racially motivated incidents.
“Page’s allegations of discrimination are limited to a series of isolated incidents, all occurring in the month of October 1995, interspersed with a melange of complaints having little to do with race,” Barry said. “This evidence falls far short of establishing a regular pattern of discrimination.”