SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego police sergeant has filed a racial-discrimination lawsuit against the city claiming he was punished for complaining about a racist cartoon that was used in a training class, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Ten-year department veteran Arthur Scott — who is Black — says in the Superior Court lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was the victim of a hostile work environment and on-the-job retaliation after objecting, the UT San Diego reported (http://bit.ly/1JaH1IM ).
San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said in a statement that the department will take the allegations “very seriously.”
“We will fully cooperate and support any and all investigations into this matter,” Zimmerman said.
At issue is a century-old newspaper cartoon mocking a Black police officer in the city. It shows Chinese men in pigtails running in fear from an ape-like caricature.
The lawsuit said the cartoon was passed around in a training class without historical context on race relations.
Scott, 43, said he complained to a supervisor. He claims he was later passed over for a promotion, pressured into taking an undesirable transfer and threatened with disciplinary action “based upon frivolous allegations of misconduct.”
