As Derek Chauvin prepares to spend the most of the remainder of his life behind bars, eight officers of color who work at the jail where he is being held have just been awarded a substantial settlement as a result of a lawsuit that was recently decided. After they were barred from watching over Derek Chauvin, a group of people of color who worked as correctional officers were awarded a settlement in the amount of $1.5 million dollars. They claimed that they were victims of racial discrimination.
After receiving an order from the then-Superintendent of the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center, Steve Lydon, correctional officers of color were officially barred from guarding Derek Chauvin and, for all intents and purposes, carrying out their jobs. After more than two years have passed, the officers in question have recently been granted a settlement for racial discrimination in the amount of $1.5 million as a result of a prior complaint they brought.
After being told they could no longer protect Derek Chauvin, the police took their grievances to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights a month later in the form of formal discrimination complaints. Due to the unfortunate fact that those filings have been closed, the jail officials have initiated a new legal action. Because of this, eight officers filed a complaint against the department in February 2021, citing multiple allegations that violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. These allegations included discrimination based on race or color as well as an intimidating working environment.
After hearing the news of the multi-million dollar settlement, the Chairwoman of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners, Trista Matas Castillo, issued an official apology to the correctional personnel.
“The acts conducted by the leadership of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office that day were more than just wrong; they were racist, vile, highly disrespectful, and entirely out of step with the vision and values of Ramsey County. Because of the color of your skin, no one had the right to ever question your capacity to do the work that you were hired to do.
