TEXAS
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock alleging that the city’s police department discriminated against Hispanics and women in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, officials said.
Hispanics and female were allegedly excluded from consideration for hire as entry-level police officers without a showing candidates the skills required for the job, according to authorities.
“We share with Lubbock the goal of hiring qualified applicants to perform critical public safety functions,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “Federal law prohibits employers from using discriminatory employment practices that do not meaningfully evaluate one’s ability to perform a given job. The Department of Justice will ensure that the city eliminates the use of these unlawful tests and we hope to work cooperatively with the city to create new selection procedures that do not unlawfully discriminate.”
According to the lawsuit, between January 2010 and June 2015, Lubbock administered its written test for police 14 times, with 12 percent of white applicants failing it the first time they took it and 32 percent of Hispanic applicants failing it on their first try.
Just over 60 percent of women failed the physical exam the first time they took the test in the same period while 19 percent of male applicants failed. Applicants needed to meet standards for push-ups, sit-ups, a 300-meter run, a 1.5-mile run and a vertical jump in the exam, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that the exam had an “adverse impact” on female applicants for probationary officer officer and is not job related and consistent with business necessity.
It seeks to have the police department stop using the exams under question and develop new selection procedures for police.
This lawsuit seeks a court order requiring Lubbock’s Police Department to comply with the Civil Rights Act and is seeking hiring of hispanics and women who have been harmed as a resulted of the department’s practices, officials said.