Suit by former East St. Louis officer alleges discrimination

[psc]

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

10/30/2009


EAST ST. LOUIS — City officials fired a white police officer because of his race the year after they are accused of declining to hire a man as police chief because he was white, court documents allege.

Christopher E. Heatherly of Carlyle was hired as an East St. Louis police officer in February 2007 by the city's police and fire board, according to a lawsuit filed by Heatherly in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis last year. The department, however, delayed his start date and didn't allow him to begin work until October 2007, the lawsuit says.

Heatherly claims he was fired in August 2008 after he had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the city delayed putting him to work because he is white. As of this summer, that complaint remained pending.

Wyatt Frazer and Della Murphy, the police board members who hired Heatherly, were later fired. They filed a lawsuit this month against the city alleging that they were forced off the Police, Fire and Civil Service Board for their advocacy of a white candidate when the police chief's job was open in 2007. Their suit alleges the mayor said East St. Louis "wasn't ready to hire a white police chief."

Before being sworn in as an officer, Heatherly claims East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks and City Manager Robert Betts, who are both black, asked him "why he wanted to work with black people." They also accused Heatherly of being a racist, the lawsuit alleges.

Parks and Betts, who are named as defendants in the suit, didn't return calls seeking comment over two days. Lawyers representing them in the suit also didn't return calls on Thursday.

The board hired another white police officer along with Heatherly, but he was fired shortly after he started work, according to court records.

East St. Louis has a 97.7 percent black population, according to U.S. census records.

The lawsuit says Heatherly was fired by then Police Chief Michael Baxton for "insubordination."

Heatherly declined to comment on Thursday and referred all questions to his lawyers.

Heatherly's lawsuit seeks punitive damages "in an amount that is likely to deter them from similar conduct in the future" but doesn't name a specific dollar figure.
_________________________________________

Don't see this too often...crazy.