A state appeals court reinstated a former NYPD officer’s lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by a white sergeant. The claim centers on an incident in 2019 when the officer, injured and restricted from carrying a gun or shield, was assigned to arrest a man known for attacking officers. The sergeant allegedly made anti-Black statements and told the officer not to worry, asserting that the arrestee would not fight because of the officer’s appearance and comparing him to a white detective. The court held a reasonable juror could interpret the remarks as invoking a racist trope that Black men are inherently threatening. Whether the statements were about size or race-based stereotypes is for a jury.
"The Appellate Division, First Department, overturned the state's Supreme Court's previous decision to toss the case, saying it erred in dismissing former Black officer Otis Taylor's racial discrimination case against Sergeant Martin Toczek, which alleges Toczek was racist when directing Taylor to arrest a man known for attacking officers, while a shoulder injury prevented him from carrying a gun or shield."
"When assigning Taylor to arrest the dangerous man while injured in 2019, Toczek, who'd made anti-Black statements around the office, told Taylor not to worry, even though the man had just assaulted white detective Dan Fox, because [w]hen he sees you, he's not going to fight, look how big you are,' Taylor alleges. Toczek then further suggested that the arrestee would not assault Taylor, who was on restricted duty due to his injury, because, look at [Fox], look at him and look at you, according to the complaint."
"A reasonable juror could interpret Toczek's assertion that [Taylor's] appearance, including his size, would deter violence from the arrestee, as an attempt to invoke the classic and common racist trope that Black men are inherently threatening or dangerous,' the appellate court wrote. Disentangling whether Toczek's statements were permissible references exclusively to [Taylor's] size or were instead invoking race-based stereotypes is for a jury."
Read at www.amny.com
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