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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER

WASHINGTON -- Under a consent decree with the Justice Department, the City and County of Denver will modify their employment policies to allow police officers with disabilities to be reassigned to civilian jobs in the city and county when their disabilities make them unable to continue working as police officers.

The city and county also will pay $1.5 million to eleven police officers who were forced to retire as a result of Denver's prior policy prohibiting them from being reassigned. The amount is the largest obtained by the Department to date under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The consent decree, approved today by U.S. District Court in Denver, resolves a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department in February, 1996. The Department alleged that Denver's refusal to reassign police officers with disabilities to other city and county jobs violated Titles I and II of the ADA. The Department filed the lawsuit after learning that Denver police officers who became disabled, many as a result of injuries incurred in the line of duty, were being forced to retire after Denver officials determined that they could no longer perform the essential functions required of police officers.

"The ADA's protections are essential for police officers who sacrifice their health and their ability to continue their police careers to protect us and keep our neighborhoods safe," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Bill Lann Lee. "It would be cruel irony indeed if, as a result of their devotion to duty, we allowed employers to discard them."

Among the officers who will receive back pay awards are a 21-year veteran who, while riding a police motorcycle, was run over and dragged by a truck as he responded to an emergency radio call; a 15-year veteran who was twice dragged by a car while he was trying to detain a drunk driver; and several officers who were injured in car accidents while on official duty. All of these individuals were denied the opportunity to transfer to civilian positions for which they were qualified.

In addition to requiring the City and County of Denver to discontinue any discriminatory employment practices, the settlement also requires them to:

• Implement a written reassignment policy that requires Denver to reassign police officers with disabilities, who can no longer perform the essential functions of their jobs, to vacant civilian positions for which they are qualified; and

• Ensure that the claimants, or any others who opposed Denver's reassignment policy, will not be retaliated against as a result of their involvement with the lawsuit or their opposition to the former policy;

In October 1999, the 10 th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Denver's policy of refusing to reassign police officers with disabilities to civilian positions for which they were qualified violated the ADA. The case was scheduled for a 30-day trial beginning March 1, 2000, to determine what remedy should apply to Denver's ADA violations. Shortly before the trial was scheduled to begin, the parties entered voluntary mediation, which led to today's settlement.

Title I of the ADA, which became law in 1990, requires that employers provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations to allow them to perform their jobs. If no reasonable accommodation would allow an employee to remain in his or her current job, then the ADA requires employers to reassign disabled employees to vacant positions for which they are qualified.