The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Today's Front Page

March 15, 2013

Fired Sophia cop settles racial discrimination case

Associated Press

A former police officer who says he was fired because he’s black is settling his lawsuit against the Sophia Police Department and Chief Tomi Peck.

U.S. District Judge Irene Berger dismissed Damon McDowell’s lawsuit this week after a mediator reported he’d negotiated a settlement.

McDowell’s attorney, Maria Hughes, said Friday that the terms are confidential.

Peck says she fired McDowell last year after he left a Beckley restaurant without paying his bill.

McDowell claims he’s the victim of a conspiracy cooked up to force him to resign. 

He was fired after just six months on the job.

McDowell contends he was the victim of harassment schemes that included hiding paperwork so he’d miss court appearances, drawing penises on paperwork and telling jokes with a racial epithet in his presence.

 

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