Jury awards $200,000 to former Detroit Officer Who Was Demoted And Suspended After Complaining To Media About Promotions
From The Detroit Free Press, February 2
A federal jury awarded $200,000 in damages Wednesday to a former Detroit police spokesman who said his career was ruined in a dispute with former Police Chief Jerry Oliver [and former Phoenix Police Assistant Chief].
The jury deliberated nearly six hours over two days in U.S. District Court in Detroit before awarding the damages to Ricardo Moore, who said Oliver wrongly demoted him to midnight patrol and eventually suspended him with pay in late 2002 after Moore told reporters that Oliver's decision not to promote 81 officers in effect violated the city police contract.
Moore was one of the officers up for promotion.
Moore said Oliver also humiliated him by forcing him to undergo psychological, alcohol and drug testing to establish his fitness for duty.
Moore's lawyer, Isaiah Lipsey, said he was pleased with the verdict and probably would ask Judge Marianne Battani to order the city to pay him $100,000 for attorney fees and court costs. City attorney Valerie Colbert-Osamuede said the city may appeal the decision.
She said jurors told her afterward that they awarded the damages to Moore, not because they believed the city did anything wrong, but because they wanted to help Moore get a new start.
