“The City and Chief Theetge have actively and systemically undertaken efforts to promote, advance, and make promotion and assignment decisions that are preferable to women and minorities, and to the exclusion of white men.”
The Cincinnati police chief, who recently lashed out at social media users as well as journalists for posting a clip of a white woman and man getting beat up by a mob in the city, is currently being sued by white police officers for having an alleged bias against them in their assignments.
Police Chief Teresa Theetge as well as the city are being sued by several high-ranking officers for having an alleged bias against white police officers. The revelations of the lawsuit were brought to light after the brawl that occurred on Friday saw a group of minority individuals beat up a white man and woman, which ended with the woman being knocked out after being sucker punched to the ground. The man had been shoved to the ground and kicked by the group of people repeatedly.
“The City and Chief Theetge have actively and systemically undertaken efforts to promote, advance, and make promotion and assignment decisions that are preferable to women and minorities, and to the exclusion of white men, including through hiring, diversity initiatives, outreach programs, promotional processes, and other steps that demonstrate both a systemic practice of discrimination against white males, and that there are background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority,” the suit alleges, per Fox 19.
The suit claims that Theetge discriminated against Capt. Robert Wilson and lieutenants Patrick Caton, Gerald Hodges and Andrew Mitchell by favoring minority police officers with preferable assignments on the force.
The high-ranking officers also alleged that the chief skipped over them for opportunities that would have benefited their careers as well as additional overtime pay.
In a press conference following Friday’s brawl, Theetge downplayed the incident, saying that "one incident ... is getting all the attention and undoing the good stuff that happened this weekend."
Theetge also blamed the press and social media users, saying, “Another topic I want to cover real quick, social media and journalism and the role it plays in this incident. And yes guys, that’s you. That is you. Social media, the post that we’ve seen does not depict the entire incident. That is one version of what occurred.”
The chief did not go on to lay out in detail what the other side of the story was, but said that the incident started before the video was shot and that alcohol was involved. Five people have been charged in the incident. However, she did not disclose the charges or the identity of the suspects.
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