A jury in King County decided that five Black police officers who worked at the University of Washington Seattle should be awarded $16 million. The five Black police officers claimed they had suffered years of racist comments, harassment and discrimination by supervisors and colleagues. According to the 2021 complaint and trial testimony, the officers were targets of routine racial slurs that were part of a hostile work environment. Among the allegations was the use of a racist slur by police supervisors and an instance where one Black officer found a banana and racist note by her locker. The lawsuit alleged the UW administration knew of the issues, which smoldered for years, but did little. When a cadre of white police officers complained and eventually drove out the department’s first Black police chief, with some openly complaining that he was hiring too many Black officers, a university-sponsored investigation never considered racism as a motive, the lawsuit alleged. The officers allegedly experienced widespread acts of racial harassment and discrimination within the department, including racist stereotypes, physical intimidation and preferential treatment of white officers. The university put out an official statement calling the lawsuit's allegations "deeply disturbing and counter to the UW's commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive and equitable community." The police officers are Russell Ellis, Gabriel Golden, Hamani Nowlen, Damien Taylor, and Karinn Young, who was the university police force's only Black woman. Jury awards $16M to 5 University of Washington officers in racial discrimination lawsuit, by Mike Carter, The Seattle Times, December 22, 2023 If true, those involved should face workplace discipline and be punished. But should those Black police officers get huge amounts of taxpayer money? This seems insane to me. And how are we even going to know for sure that claims of racism are true, when everyone knows those claiming to be victims stand to get lots of money? It could be very possible these officers exaggerated what happened to try to maximize their chances of winning and getting lots of money in the lawsuit. Many of those on the Left seem to be of the mentality that individuals who suffer an injustice or mistreatment deserve to get money from the rest of society, to compensate them. But the thing is, where is that money actually coming from? I don't have a problem with disciplining or punishing the individuals responsible for the misconduct, but do we really need to bring payouts of money into the picture? I just get the feeling that most progressives on the Left have a very different idea of what "justice" is. I think a lot of this stems from an attitude of entitlement as well, just wanting lots of free money, thinking that money will just come from somewhere else. Or maybe trying to "socialize" all the losses, so all of society suffers equally. related threads: Jury awarded black worker $137 million in lawsuit for being called N-word (posted in Race Relations, May 11, 2023 ) We need to STOP giving alleged rape victims any money (Political Opinions & Beliefs, Dec 13, 2022 )
