Columbus City Council on Monday is expected to settle a lawsuit with a former city police sergeant who accused the Division of Police of discriminating against him because he's a white man.
The city is set to pay out $750,000 to Brooke Wilson.
In federal court documents, Wilson, now 60, alleges that a young, Black, female cadet wrongly accused him of using a racial slur during a conversation in June 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests.
A police investigation upheld the allegations against Wilson and found that he had violated city policy. He was later charged with violations for "unbecoming conduct" and compliance with EEO laws.
Wilson denies saying the slur. In court documents, he claims he was not present at the time that the cadet says he used the slur. Wilson maintains that his timesheets showed as much — though he says that information was omitted for much of the investigation.
Wilson also says that the woman who accused him kept "derisively" referring to him by his demographics, as a "middle-aged white man," or one of the "old dudes."
Wilson was ultimately demoted from the rank of sergeant to police officer and was reassigned from his position on the accident investigation unit. He says he lost wages and benefits, and that the demotion was "unprecedented" and "not permitted" by the police union bargaining contract.
Wilson retired from the Columbus Division of Police in August 2021. He sued the city in the Southern District of Ohio Court in December 2022, alleging that investigators discriminated against him for his age, race and gender.
The Columbus Department of Public Safety said in a statement that it stands by its conclusions, but that settling is the most financially responsible option to protect city taxpayers.
"The Department stands by the integrity and conclusions of its investigation and was fully prepared to defend them in court. However, as the case moved toward trial, pre-trial rulings excluded key evidence and significantly increased the financial risk to taxpayers," the statement reads.
If Columbus City Council approves the settlement, Wilson will dismiss his lawsuit against the city. His rank will be retroactively restored to sergeant.
