By Sean McDonnell
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland will pay $75,000 and give a new job with a six-figure salary to Jason Goodrick to settle a lawsuit in which Goodrick alleged he was denied a promotion based on his race and gender.
Goodrick, who is white and a man, was the interim director of the Cleveland Community Police Commission . He sued the city a year ago after he was denied a promotion that would have made him the permanent executive director.
Back in July 2023 , commissioners voted 7-5 to rehire Goodrick as the permanent executive director. But Mayor Justin Bibb denied the promotion. Goodrick filed a lawsuit in August 2024 , alleging discrimination.
According to the settlement agreement, Goodrick agreed to no longer pursue the Commission’s executive director position. In exchange, he’s been given a position as a climate resilience specialist in City Hall for three years and will make $105,000 annually. He’ll also receive $75,000, which is meant as backpay for salary he lost by not being made a permanent executive director.
Goodrick will also have to resign from his new job after three years and can’t pursue another position working for the city of Cleveland in the future.
The city of Cleveland declined comment on Goodrick’s settlement. The settlement, which cleveland.com obtained through a records request, says Cleveland is not admitting any fault.
Cleveland.com has reached out to Goodrick’s attorney, Brian Spitz , for comment.
Councilman Brian Kazy criticized the settlement, saying both the payout and the new job — as well as Goodrick’s past employment — were a waste of taxpayer dollars.
“The guy has accomplished zero since he’s been an employee with the city of Cleveland,” Kazy said. He said the only thing Goodrick accomplished during his tenure was filing a lawsuit against the city.
The settlement brings an end to Goodrick’s long tenure at the Community Police Commission .
Goodrick had been permanent executive director from June 2017 to January 2023 — but became the “interim” director when new commissioners were seated in that January.
After a search, commissioners voted 7-5 in July 2023 to rehire Goodrick as the permanent executive director. Bibb denied the promotion and explained his decision in a letter at the time, saying that “Under Mr. Goodrick’s tenure as Interim Executive Director, there has been significant internal conflict, a loss of confidence, and insufficient progress.”
Goodrick, though, alleged discrimination, saying that one of the commissioners said he shouldn’t lead the commission because he was an “abuser of Black women and a white man,” according to the lawsuit.
Back in 2018, Goodrick was accused in a lawsuit of repeatedly harassing three female co-workers and then taking away their work responsibilities when they reported him to human resources.
He denied the accusations. The lawsuit against him, filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court , was later dismissed.
Goodrick was temporarily put on leave and was investigated but returned to work. An HR investigation found that the Police Commission had a dysfunctional work environment but didn’t find that any staff violated policy.
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