{"id":103751,"date":"2019-10-26T10:25:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T14:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/jurors-award-nearly-20-million-to-veteran-cop-told-to-tone-down-his-gayness-if-he-wanted-a-promotion\/"},"modified":"2019-10-26T10:25:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T14:25:27","slug":"jurors-award-nearly-20-million-to-veteran-cop-told-to-tone-down-his-gayness-if-he-wanted-a-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/jurors-award-nearly-20-million-to-veteran-cop-told-to-tone-down-his-gayness-if-he-wanted-a-promotion\/","title":{"rendered":"Jurors Award Nearly $20 Million to Veteran Cop Told to \u2018Tone Down His Gayness\u2019 if He Wanted a Promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jurors Award Nearly $20 Million to Veteran Cop Told to \u2018Tone Down His Gayness\u2019 if He Wanted a Promotion<\/b><\/p>\n

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Jurors on Friday awarded Keith Wildhaber, an out 22-year veteran of the St. Louis County police, $19 million in damages in a discrimination lawsuit. Wildhaber\u00a0sued the department<\/a>\u00a0in 2017<\/a> for discrimination, saying he was told to \u201ctone down his gayness\u201d if he ever wanted a promotion. The trial began on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> reports:<\/a> \u201cThe jury deliberated about three hours before awarding Wildhaber $1.9 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages on the discrimination allegation. It added $999,000 in actual damages and $7 million in punitive damages for the retaliation allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said the jury foreman to reporters<\/a>: \u201cWe wanted to send a message. If you discriminate you are going to pay a big price. \u2026 You can\u2019t defend the indefensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jury foreman: \u201cThe STL County Police Department has a systematic problem.\u201d
\u201cWe wanted to send a message. If you discriminate, you\u2019re going to pay a big price. Bullying doesn\u2019t work. Retaliation doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Christine Byers (@ChristineDByers) October 26, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Earlier this week, Wildhaber told the court he was \u201csickened\u201d after being told by former St. Louis County Police Board of Commissioners member John Saracino that he needed to \u201ctone down his gayness\u201d if he wanted to be promoted to lieutenant,\u00a0the\u00a0St. Louis Post Dispatch<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wildhaber also said he was transferred to a precinct that tripled his commute and taken off of afternoon shifts and put on midnight shifts.<\/p>\n

Wildhaber\u2019s lawyers \u201cdepicted [Chief Jon] Belmar as having a penchant for promoting masculine men<\/a> that dominates all promotional decisions and said that he will retaliate against anyone who questions them, as Wildhaber did by filing his lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Wildhaber: \u201cThe police department under Chief Belmar is big on high-testosterone, type A masculine personalities, and my method of policing doesn\u2019t conform with that. This chief is very heavy on promoting the SWAT, masculine type of guys<\/a>, and I wasn\u2019t doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A group of jurors told reporters on Friday that photographs presented as evidence were a major part of their decision, and proved \u201chow far the county was willing to go to beat Wildhaber.\u201d<\/p>\n

The photographs were presented to the jury by Donna Woodland, the widow of a former county police officer and girlfriend<\/a> of a current officer.<\/p>\n

Woodland had told the jury that Capt. Guy Means had called Wildhaber \u201cfruity\u201d at a police welfare event in 2015 and said Wildhaber was \u201cway too out there with his gayness and he needed to tone it down if he wanted a white shirt. (promotion to command staff).\u201d<\/p>\n

The St. Louis Dispatch<\/em> adds<\/a>: \u201cMeans testified Thursday that he did not recall attending the event Woodland referred to and did not know Woodland. He said he would not be able to pick her out of the jury box if she was sitting there. On Friday, Woodland produced a photo booth array with three pictures of her and Means together at the event, including one frame that shows Means giving Woodland a bear hug.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the Dispatch\u2019s full report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Jurors Award Nearly $20 Million to Veteran Cop Told to \u2018Tone Down His Gayness\u2019 if He Wanted a Promotion<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Jurors Award Nearly $20 Million to Veteran Cop Told to ‘Tone Down His Gayness’ if He Wanted a Promotion<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n