Chicago City agreed for a settlement regarding the job discrimination federal lawsuit case to police applicants. The said case allegedly rejected and discriminated police applicants due to its residency and its nationality.
According to Reuters, Chicago will be paying $2 million back pay and give other benefits to the police candidates who were not accepted due to the said issues. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city over the discrimination claims of two men, who already passed the hiring exam back in the year 2006. The said men were discriminated because of their years of residency and national origin.
The US Department also added on their statement that the city will also provide employment to the eight rejected police candidates. The lawsuit was filed due to the Chicago city's violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stating, "Employers cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin," the US department said.
According to the US Department of Justice website, the city required police officer applicants to qualify to their "10-year continuous U.S. residency requirement". On the investigations conducted, the city allegedly rejected foreign applicants, which clearly violates the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Investigations to the said issues are still ongoing.
The Chicago Police Department also did not inform or demonstrated that the years of residency is a major requirement and that their practice is significant to the foreign applicants, the Aljazeera America reported. The lawsuit was separate from a Justice Department investigation into the department's use-of-force practices, stemming from protests over the dozens of black men who have been killed by police in Chicago in recent years.
The city no longer uses the 10-year residency requirement. It now has a five-year residency requirement that the Justice Department will review to decide whether it is also discriminatory.
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