By Darryl Tucker | The Saginaw News
BAY CITY — Saginaw city officials says they are disappointed a federal jury awarded a former Saginaw police officer $1 million on claims of racial and disability discrimination when the municipality fired him.
Jurors deliberated about two hours Tuesday and ruled that the city discriminated against Danny T. McDole when it fired him.
“We were surprised and disappointed by the verdict,” said city attorney Thomas H. Fancher. “An arbitrator looked at the same evidence and found it was just cause to fire officer McDole. We expect to appeal the verdict.”
The jury awarded McDole $950,000 for economic damages and $50,000 for emotional distress.
The city would pay $250,000 to McDole and his attorneys and an insurance policy will dole out the rest, Fancher said.
The Saginaw News could not reach McDole or his attorney, Victor J. Mastromarco Jr., for comment early today.
McDole, 39, claimed the city violated his rights by breaching the Michigan Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act when it fired him in February 2006.
In his suit, McDole claimed he was a member of a protected class by virtue of his medical condition, post-traumatic stress disorder.
The racial discrimination claims stem from 2005, when McDole arrested two white men he said assaulted and targeted him with racial slurs. A month later, the city placed McDole on
administrative leave while A.J. Tuer, the Saginaw Police Department’s head of internal affairs, investigated the assault, the suit says.
McDole agreed to attend counseling sessions from December 2005 to January 2006.
Doctors found that McDole suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, but that his prognosis for recovery was good and that he was fit to return to duty.
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