JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLES LAWSUIT REGARDING DELAWARE STATE POLICE HIRING PRACTICES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the State of Delaware resolving an employment lawsuit alleging unlawful race discrimination in the state police department's hiring practices. The suit was filed in 2001 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace.

“The Civil Rights Division opposes all forms of racial discrimination,” said Bradley J. Schlozman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased to reach a successful resolution to this case.”

The consent decree follows a trial in 2003 in which the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware determined that the state had discriminated against African-American applicants for entry-level state trooper positions through the use of a particular written examination.

Under the terms of the consent decree, which still must be approved by the court, the state must provide a total of $1,425,000 to qualified African-American applicants who applied for entry-level state trooper positions between 1992 and 1998, but were denied employment as a result of the state’s unlawful use of the written examination. The state will also provide priority job offers with retroactive seniority and pension relief to up to 12 qualified African-American applicants who had been the victims of the state’s unlawful use of the examination.

The continued enforcement of Title VII has been a priority of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/>

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