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New York Post
17-07-2025
- New York Post
Cops sue Nassau PD for $100M over alleged policy meant to weed out nonwhite officers
Nassau County police used grooming policies as a tool to sideline minority officers by punishing those with a common skin condition that mostly affects Black men, a new lawsuit claims. Four officers say the department weaponized rules around shaving to sideline those with pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition that causes razor bumps and scarring from shaving, accusing Nassau police of using the policy as a cover for discrimination to sideline minority officers under the guise of grooming standards. 9 Nassau County police used grooming policies as a tool to sideline minority officers by punishing those with a common skin condition that mostly affects Black men, a new lawsuit claims. Aristide Economopoulos 9 Four officers say the department weaponized rules around shaving to sideline those with pseudofolliculitis barbae. Nassau County Police Department 9 Nassau County Police Department headquarters. Nassau County Police Department The officers — Garlinsky Jean, Kenneth Herbert, Alexander Renwart and David Soto — are all now demanding $100 million in damages and asking the court to declare the department's treatment unlawful. 'Nassau County has an obligation to treat African American officers with the same regard they treat other people,' said civil rights attorney Frederick Brewington, who is representing the plaintiffs. 'The fact that they would not accommodate a medical condition that largely impacts African Americans is outrageous.' All four officers — three Black men and one Puerto Rican — were medically exempt from the department's clean-shaven standards due to the condition, which disproportionately affects men with tight curly hair, as up to 60% of Black men suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. 9 Attorney Frederick K. Brewington representing the plaintiffs. The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington 9 The officers — Garlinsky Jean, Kenneth Herbert, Alexander Renwart and David Soto — are all now demanding $100 million in damages. Gabriella Bass 9 All four officers — three Black men and one Puerto Rican — were medically exempt from the department's clean-shaven standards due to the condition. Nassau County Police Department But instead of accommodating the officer's condition, the lawsuit claims that the department tossed them onto desk duty, stripped them of overtime opportunities, blocked transfers, stumped promotions, and made them recertify their diagnosis every single month with a physician's note — which the suit described as a punishment disguised as policy. The lawsuit argues the department's actions are just the latest example of a deeper, long-standing problem in a county with a history of shutting out Black, Latino, and female applicants from joining the force. In fact, the Department of Justice had to step in back in 198 to force Nassau into a federal consent decree to break up discriminatory hiring practices that kept people of color and women out of uniform. 9 Nassau County Police officers marching in a parade. Aristide Economopoulos 9 Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (in POLICE jacket) and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder (speaking) announce a huge parade and party to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the Nassau County Police Department. Dennis A. Clark In 2021, 6,539 Black Long Islanders tried to become police officers between both counties. Only 67 were hired, and both counties disqualified minority applicants at rates higher than those of their white peers, according to county data. The lawsuit was filed in December, but has just become public only days after the U.S. Army announced its scrapping shaving exemptions for the same condition, potentially booting troops who can't stay clean-shaven from the military altogether. The suit claims the department's so-called grooming policy became a backdoor to discrimination, with the treatment allegedly coming from the top. At a 2022 awards ceremony, Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder is accused of publicly mocking Renwart while handing him a Meritorious Police Award. 9 The suit claims the department's so-called grooming policy became a backdoor to discrimination, with the treatment allegedly coming from the top. Nassau County Police Department 'What, did you forget your f*cking razor at home?' Ryder allegedly said, despite Renwart having a medical exemption on file, as he handed the officer his award. Attorneys for the county denied any wrongdoing in court filings, arguing that all actions against the four cops 'were taken in good faith for non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory legitimate business,' and not based on race, national origin, sexuality, or disability. Brewington is now pushing for the lawsuit to be granted class-action status, potentially leading to payouts for any officer reassigned to desk duty due to pseudofolliculitis barbae — arguing the officers' rights were violated under the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and New York State human rights law. A mediation between both sides is scheduled for July 31. Nassau County PD and Commissioner Ryder did not respond to a request for comment.
New York Post
16-07-2025
- New York Post
Maryland teacher claims in lawsuit he was falsely branded ‘racist' over seating chart dispute
A Maryland high school teacher is taking legal action, claiming he was accused of being a racist after a classroom dispute over seating assignments was mishandled by the school administration. Dan Engler, a former health and English teacher and head coach of the rowing team at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) in Montgomery County, filed a lawsuit against Principal Shelton L. Mooney and the Montgomery County Public School Board, accusing them of defamation and violating school policy in their handling of a February 2023 classroom incident. According to the complaint, two students in Engler's first-period health class asked to sit next to their friends instead of in their assigned seats. Engler, citing the importance of using a seating chart to learn student names and avoid confusion, asked the students — who are Black — to return to their assigned seats. The students refused and remained where they were. Later that day, the students reported the interaction to the assistant principal, alleging Engler told them he would not be able to tell them apart from other students, believing this to be a racial comment. 4 Dan Engler is a former health and English teacher and head coach of the rowing team at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) in Montgomery County. Dan Engler / Facebook 'Part of the misunderstanding may have stemmed from an incident in Engler's English class the previous spring,' his attorney wrote in the opposition to the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The filing explained that Engler had read a quote from Muhammad Ali containing a racial slur, which offended some students. Engler apologized, and an investigation determined it was not a 'hate bias incident.' The students involved in the health class had reportedly heard about the English class incident and had previously asked not to be placed in Engler's class, believing him to be racist. Following the students' report, Principal Mooney was instructed by his superiors to follow the 'hate bias incident' protocol. The next day, he informed Engler that he would be placed on paid administrative leave for one day while the incident was under investigation. 4 Engler, citing the importance of using a seating chart to learn student names and avoid confusion, asked the students — who are Black — to return to their assigned seats. The students refused and remained in place. Dan Engler / Facebook Two days after the incident, Mooney sent a community-wide email to parents, teachers, staff and students reporting that a 'hate bias incident' had occurred at the school. The message said that 'several African American students' were told by a teacher that he was 'unable to distinguish them from other African American students' in the classroom and that the Montgomery County Police Department had been notified as an internal investigation was ongoing. 'Let me be clear, discrimination of any kind must not be tolerated,' Mooney wrote before citing the school policy against 'insensitivity, disrespect, bias, verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, physical violence or illegal discrimination toward any person.' Although Engler was not named in the email, he said he was quickly identified by students, parents and colleagues. He maintains that he did not make the statement attributed to him in the letter and he 'did not do anything that could reasonably be classified as a 'hate bias incident.'' 4 Engler is suing Principal Shelton L. Mooney and the Montgomery County Public School Board. Shelton Mooney / Linkedin The complaint alleges that Engler had his 'reputation destroyed by the malicious acts of B-CC's Principal, Defendant Shelton L. Mooney, who falsely accused Engler of racism in a thoughtless, half-baked community-wide email.' The lawsuit further claims that Mooney and the school board violated MCPS policies and procedures by sending the community-wide email before an investigation was completed and that they refused to issue a retraction or apology. When Engler returned to work the following week, Mooney allegedly 'refused to discuss the matter' with Engler. Upon returning to his classroom, Engler said he was 'upset' to find MCPS and B-CC staff holding a 'restorative justice' circle in his classroom that they excluded him from joining. Engler told Fox News Digital that the experience took a heavy toll on his mental health. The same day, he went on disability leave for a year and a half before resuming teaching at another school in the district. 4 Following the students' report, Principal Mooney was instructed by his superiors to follow the 'hate bias incident' protocol. Google St View 'I love teaching. I love coaching,' he said. 'And I really care a great deal about the relationships I have with those kids and helping them learn how to become adults in the best way possible. To lose the confidence of the kids, the trust of the kids, based on what the kids' leadership had to say about me, was devastating. It was identity stealing.' According to the complaint, Engler ultimately faced no disciplinary action and the defendants' investigation allegedly failed to find sufficient evidence that the classroom incident constituted a 'hate bias incident.' 'However, the damage to Engler had already been done. Mooney's malicious email falsely branded Engler a racist, destroying his reputation in the B-CC community, causing him deep emotional distress, making it impossible to continue teaching at B-CC, and causing the loss of his position as Head Coach of the B-CC Rowing Team,' it continued. Engler criticized the school's handling of the incident as 'a tremendous opportunity for virtue signaling.' 'It really was, and I'm paying the price,' he told Fox News Digital. Engler said his reputation has been damaged, and the legal fight has cost his family over $300,000. After attempting to resolve the dispute through administrative proceedings, Engler filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court in August 2023. Engler's case proceeded to trial on Monday. Fox News Digital reached out multiple times to the lawyers for the defendants on the allegations and did not receive a response. The MCPS Board of Education said it was unable to comment on pending litigation. Mooney did not return a request for comment.
15-07-2025
South Carolina man's family seeks answers in his death 3 days after arrest
The family of a South Carolina man who died three days after being arrested last month demanded the release of police body camera video and answers regarding his death on Tuesday. Byron Jackson, 45, died in the days after his June 22 arrest by the Irmo Police Department, following a 911 call alleging that someone had gotten into a fight, according to his family's lawyer, civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers. The lawyer said that Jackson was not involved in a fight and the cause of his death is unclear. "I can tell you that we're not going to allow the Irmo Police Department just to treat him as some other young African American kid," Sellers said at a press conference on Tuesday. "He's dead now. You guys going about your business -- that's not going to happen on our watch." Byron Jackson's mother Bettie Jackson, who was present at the news conference with other family members, was visibly distraught. "We all loved him dearly, and we talked two and three times a day, and I'm surely, surely going to miss him," Bettie Jackson said. "In fact, not 'am going to miss him' -- I'm missing him already." Irmo Police Chief Bobby Dale told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has taken over the investigation and that he could not make any further statements to ensure the process is conducted appropriately. Also Tuesday, SLED confirmed in a statement to ABC News that Byron Jackson died on June 25 in the hospital, three days after the arrest. They said that the investigation is ongoing, and more information may be available at "a later time." The Richland County Coroner's Office did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for Byron Jackson's autopsy and cause of death. "We do know that the Irmo Police Department can release the body cam," Sellers said. "We do know that body cam footage does exist, and we're asking them to do that." Sellers requested the release of the identities of the officers involved. He also denied the police department's alleged account that a high-speed chase ensued before Byron Jackson's arrest, or that he was involved in a fight before police arrived. Sellers said he doesn't know why a 911 call was made in regard to Byron Jackson. "This started with a 911 call from a resident of Irmo. I'm not sure what she thought she saw," Sellers said. "I can't go into her head, but there was not a fight in the vehicle. There was one person -- who was Byron -- in that vehicle. That is a fact." Sellers also said that Byron Jackson was in a work utility van that had "its own issues" and that he knew from investigators that there was no high-speed chase. The attorney said that, after police arrived, there was a low-speed collision, Byron Jackson and an officer ended up at the bottom of a ravine and the South Carolina resident was handcuffed. After that, Sellers said he died and the family doesn't know how.
