By Leah Willingham
Associated Press
BOSTON — A jury has ordered the Massachusetts State Police to pay $6.8 million after a finding that it discriminated against female and minority troopers.
The verdict confirmed Tuesday by a Suffolk Superior Court clerk came in a lawsuit accusing the agency’s leadership of enabling a discriminatory process for hiring and promotions that kept women and people of color from rising through the ranks.
| POLICE RESEARCH: How 8-, 10- and 12-hour police shifts affect staffing and wellness
The 2016 lawsuit accused leadership of handpicking candidates for jobs before they were posted and enabling a “pattern of discriminatory practices that prevent many from obtaining choice assignments throughout the department.”
A group of current and former state troopers that included women, Black and Hispanic officers, said employees who were not male or white were regularly passed over for promotions that went to white men who were less qualified with more extensive disciplinary records.
In a statement Tuesday, the Massachusetts State Police said it has changed the way it operates and remains committed to building a department “at every rank that reflects the communities we serve.”
“We continue to implement promotional processes that align the Department with national best practices and strengthen our workforce by elevating candidates who not only possess the necessary skills and experience, but also uphold the values essential to delivering excellent police services,” the agency said.
In September 2018, about 5% of the state police force were women and just under 10% were minorities, according to the lawsuit, which said the state had “created, maintained, and enforced substantial headwinds that fly against the possibility of having a diverse force.”
___
Associated Press reporter Michael Casey contributed to this report.
