DOJ: Baltimore County Unintentionally Discriminated Against African American Police Applicants

Baltimore County police hiring decisions disproportionately exclude African American applicants for police officer and cadet positions, a federal lawsuit alleges.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the county and its police department. The lawsuit alleges that since 2013, the police department has unintentionally made hiring decisions based on the results of hiring examinations that were not job-related and that disadvantaged African Americans.

“Employers must be mindful that an employment selection device, like a test, must be shown to be job-related if it disproportionately excludes members of one of Title VII’s protected groups,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement, referring to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

See my @wbalradio video as I’m reporting live w/@BryanNehman from @BaltCoPolice HQ’s in #Towson along w/@wbaltv11’s @MeganWBAL as @TheJusticeDept says the department has engaged for years in unintended employment discrimination against African American applicants to be officers pic.twitter.com/YYzm5518WU — Scott Wykoff (@ScottWykoffWBAL) August 28, 2019

The federal government seeks a court order that would require police to use procedures that comply with federal law and to provide remedies to former applicants who can show they are entitled to them.

"In the interest of moving forward and while denying any liability for actions by prior administrations," the county has stopped using the latest version of the test at issue, Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski Jr. said in a statement.

However, he didn't say when officials reached the decision to stop using the test.

Olszewski, who recently appointed Chief Melissa Hyatt, also highlighted two diversity-focused positions, one in the police department and another serving the rest of county government.

"We will continue to work with Chief Hyatt, Department leadership, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Blue Guardians and other organizations that represent our officers, in order to ensure that our Police Department is diverse, vibrant, and reflects the diversity of Baltimore County’s communities," Olszewski said. "We are willing to negotiate with the Department of Justice to resolve this matter in a way that best serves the Baltimore County Police Department and our mission of advancing public safety for all of Baltimore County."

From 2009 to 2013, the county administered one version of the written exam that had 85 questions divided into reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar and logical order. Applicants who scored at least 75% moved on. In that time, African American applicants passed at a lower rate than white applicants at a rate the lawsuit claims is statistically significant.

The written exam administered starting in 2014 consisted of 100 questions in two parts. The first part included a note-taking skills section requiring a candidate to review a photograph and answer 15 questions about it. The second part included 85 questions in reading comprehension, logical ordering, writing skill and interpretation of data. Applicants who scored 70% or higher were eligible to continue. Again, the Department of Justice alleges, there were racial disparities between African American and white applicants.

The exam changed again the following year. In 2015, the first part included different questions and photographs, with the same 70% passing score. Again, the federal government alleges, a gap remained between black and white applicants.

The federal government claims the use of the exams as a screening device is "not job related ... and consistent with business necessity, and does not otherwise meet the requirements" of federal law.