A Black Paterson cop is suing the city. This is what her claim says
PATERSON — Jevonn McRae, a Black Paterson police officer, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city, claiming she was passed over for promotion to sergeant because of her race, gender and age.
McRae’s situation has become a cause celebre at City Council meetings during the past six months. Social justice activists, Councilman Michael Jackson and McRae’s daughter have all accused the Police Department of racial bias for its decision not to promote her to sergeant.
“The Paterson Police Department, like many police departments, has a history of denying promotion to Black officers,” said Zellie Thomas, leader of the Paterson Black Lives Matter group. “They do it in a systematic and hidden way that makes it look like they’re playing by the rules, when in actuality, they’re not.”
Mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration has a policy of not commenting on pending lawsuits.
In December 2019, Paterson agreed to pay $160,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by three African American sergeants who claimed they were subjected to racism within the department. In February 2018, the city paid out another $300,000 in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a Black police lieutenant.
McRae’s lawsuit, filed last week, says she was hired as a Police Department civilian aide in 2002 and became an officer in 2004, serving in the juvenile, community policing and major crimes divisions. Since 2021, she has been the department’s domestic violence liaison officer, the lawsuit says.
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McRae, who is in her 40s, took a civil service test for promotion to sergeant in February 2019 and ended up with a score that made her 36th on the list of officers who passed the test, the lawsuit said.
By the end of 2019, McRae moved up to 33rd on the list after two officers were promoted and another retired, the lawsuit says. Between January 2020 and Nov. 10, 2022, the city promoted 31 officers from the list to sergeant, the lawsuit said.
“They were all significantly younger white males who had much less experience than the Plaintiff,” says McRae’s complaint.
She received a certification of her eligibility for promotion to sergeant on Nov. 16, 2022, the lawsuit said.
“The Department falsely claimed there were no available spots for her yet it was aware of a sufficient number of retirements that would have made a space for Plaintiff to be promoted to Sergeant,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit claims that McRae was passed over for promotion to improve the chances for the stepson of Capt. Michael Campanello and the son of Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale to become sergeants. McRae’s complaint notes that Campanello’s role in charge of administrative services in the Police Department put him in charge of overseeing civil service promotional decisions.
This year, the city began using a new civil service list for promoting police officers to sergeant, the lawsuit says.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ Black police officer alleges discrimination in new lawsuit
