Current Events > 12 white men sue San Francisco police for race/sex bias

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/12-white-male-officers-sue-san-francisco-police-race-sex-n1017096

SAN FRANCISCO Twelve white male San Francisco police officers are suing the city, arguing they were passed over for promotions because of their race and gender.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Wednesday that the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in federal court, is the latest round in a conflict that dates back decades. A 13th plaintiff who is now retired says she also was denied promotion, because she is a white lesbian.

The lawsuit challenges a test-scoring method that the city adopted in 1979 in response to a lawsuit from a group representing black and female officers, who alleged discrimination in hiring and promotions.

San Francisco "bands" promotional test scores so that people who score within a certain range are treated the same, which means the department can consider other factors such as language skills and experience in awarding promotions. The latest lawsuit challenges that method.

"The city to this day has a long-standing practice and custom of discriminating against white males in SFPD promotions to the rank of sergeant, lieutenant and captain," said M. Greg Mullanax, the officers' attorney, in the lawsuit.

Mullanax said that in 2016, the department promoted three black sergeants, even though their scores were lower than those of 11 white candidates who were denied promotions.

San Francisco settled a similar 2003 lawsuit for $1.6 million, but did not acknowledge wrongdoing.

Mullanax said the Police Officers Association contacted Chief William Scott but none of the officers who met with Scott received any "substantive response."

John Cot, a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said the department "uses lawful, merit-based civil service examinations in making promotions."

Thoughts?
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tag
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I hope they win.
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Seems like a pretty open-and-shut case of discrimination, especially since the city has settled on multiple lawsuits over it, but then again the method they're using is 40 years old and that doesn't seem to have stopped them yet so it might get thrown out.
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What were the scores of the promoted sargeants compared to the pales here? And what about their language/people skills?
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If race factored into someone not being promoted, then we need to investigate this.
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AmericaTheBrave posted...

Mullanax said that in 2016, the department promoted three black sergeants, even though their scores were lower than those of 11 white candidates who were denied promotions.

If it were one black cop getting the promotion over 11 higher scoring white men, you could chock it up to him being some sort of stellar candidate. But when it's 3, it seems like clear race-based discrimination.
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Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"
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Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

Actually, according to the scores they were better than their competitors.

Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

This

Bishop9800 posted...

Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

This

So you guys didn't read the article. Got it.
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Bishop9800 posted...

Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

This

True, they should have endeavored to score even higher than they already did over the black officers in order to defeat their diversity bonus points.
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The Admiral posted...

Bishop9800 posted...

Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

This

So you guys didn't read the article. Got it.

I read it. They aren't judged strictly by score. They were probably garbage in the other intangible criteria used. I doubt they would, for example, promote someone with a 90% with several complaints against them from members of the community over someone who scored 82% but was well liked within the community and had no complaints and lots of praise.

It is pretty narrow minded not to consider such factors when looking at this situation and just jumping to "AnTi-wHiTe RaCiSm!"
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Topic title gives a very different impression of what this story is about
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KingRocc posted...

What were the scores of the promoted sargeants compared to the pales here? And what about their language/people skills?

I'd like to know the details on what they measure in these test. The the white officers have shown that they were more qualified overall then they have a case. However if the ones that did get promoted got them with their test scores alongside other reasons such as their reputation among the the officers and citizens or any other positive performance, the other officers need to step their game up.
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The Admiral posted...

Bishop9800 posted...

Machete posted...

Sounds like these white males were just not good enough to get promoted and now they're all "waaaaaaaahhhh racism D:"

This

So you guys didn't read the article. Got it.

Been read it.

Good for them, hope they win. Love seeing people speak up when bullshit is happening.
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I like how many people are acting like the test score is the only factor when the article itself says it wasn't.
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12 angry white men
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Zeeak4444 posted...

I like how many people are acting like the test score is the only factor when the article itself says it wasn't.

You act like there isn't already precedent against San Fran for this exact issue though....
AmericaTheBrave posted...

San Francisco settled a similar 2003 lawsuit for $1.6 million, but did not acknowledge wrongdoing.

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