WASHINGTON – In a scathing indictment of the Corpus Christi, Texas, police department, the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit alleging that the city’s law enforcement agency engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against women in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The complaint, filed in federal court, challenges the police department’s use of a physical ability test for the hiring of entry-level police officers between 2005 and 2011. According to the lawsuit, the physical test used by the city had the effect of excluding qualified women from consideration for hire as entry-level police officers and did not screen candidates for job-related skills.
Title VII prohibits employment practices that result in a disparate impact on various bases, including sex, unless the employer can prove that such practices really test for what the job requires. The complaint alleges that the challenged physical ability test does not meet this standard and, thus, qualified women have been unnecessarily kept out of entry-level police officer jobs.
"This complaint demonstrates that employment practices that unnecessarily exclude qualified candidates on account of sex are unacceptable," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department is looking forward to working with the city to resolve this matter in a way that eliminates the use of the unlawful physical ability test and gives women who were screened out of the process an opportunity to become Corpus Christi police officers."
The lawsuit seeks a court order that would require the city to stop using the challenged physical ability test, develop hiring procedures that comply with Title VII and provide relief that makes victims whole, including offers of hire, retroactive seniority and back pay to individual women who have been harmed as a result of the city’s use of the test.
A Justice Department spokesperson said that the agency is committed to ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their sex, have equal access to employment opportunities, including law enforcement careers.
Additional information about Title VII and other federal employment laws is available on the Civil Rights Division’s website at www.justice.gov/crt/.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of high-profile cases involving allegations of sex discrimination in law enforcement hiring practices.
Corpus Christi police department officials have yet to comment on the lawsuit, but a spokesperson for the city said that they are reviewing the complaint and will respond accordingly.
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