Levy Ratner Celebrates Victory Representing Black and Hispanic Police Officers

Levy Ratner celebrates with our co-counsel, Lichten and Liss-Riordan, P.C., our recent victory representing Black and Hispanic police officers challenging discriminatory police sergeant promotion exams used in numerous Massachusetts cities and towns between 2005 and 2012. On October 27, 2022, the Court concluded that the Massachusetts Human Resources Division, the state agency that created the examinations, violated Massachusetts state law by interfering with our clients’ rights to be free of race or national origin discrimination. The Court found “overwhelming persuasive evidence” that “HRD interfered with the class members’ rights to consideration for promotion to police sergeant without regard to race or national origin.” According to the Court, HRD’s actions perpetuated “a discriminatory system that has injured qualified candidates and deprived the public of the benefits of having the best-qualified police sergeants.” Among the issues still to be considered by the Court are the remedies to be ordered in light of this unlawful conduct.