Racial discrimination lawsuit against Modesto by Black sergeant settled for $50,000
Modesto has settled a racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought against it by a Black police sergeant for $50,000.
The city also spent $85,442 in legal costs and $1,236 in other costs defending itself in the lawsuit, bringing its total cost in this matter to $136,678.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2019 in Stanislaus County Superior Court by then-Sgt. Derrick Tyler and his attorneys. Tyler retired from the Police Department in May of this year. He had gone to work for the department in July 1995, according to the city.
Modesto’s attorneys denied all of the allegations in Tyler’s lawsuit, according to court records. The city’s attorneys filed a request May 31 to have the lawsuit dismissed, and it has been.
The Bee learned about the settlement through a California Public Records Act request it filed with the city for all payments made in the second quarter of this year to settle claims, lawsuits and similar matters filed against it.
Tyler could not be reached for comment Friday.
Tyler’s lawsuit alleged there was a “culture of racial discrimination” within the Police Department and he had been subjected to such treatment as being wrongly passed over for promotion and unfounded disciplinary charges because he is Black.
This is not the only legal matter involving Tyler. He and the city are being sued in federal court by Adorthus Cherry, a former Modesto resident.
Cherry alleges that when he and Tyler attended a high school football game in 2016 and while Tyler was off duty, Tyler made a false claim that Cherry had threatened him, leading to his false arrest.
Cherry’s lawsuit was filed in September 2018. The latest filing in the case was for a June 28 settlement conference among the attorneys. There is no filing regarding the outcome of the conference.
This story was originally published July 24, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
