Appeals Court Reverses Worcester Police Discrimination Decision

WORCESTER, MA — A state Appeals Court judge on Tuesday reversed a decision in a decades-old Worcester police racial discrimination matter. The case had been thrown out in 2015 by a Superior Court judge, but now the city of Worcester may have to re-appeal the matter.

In 1994, Worcester officers Spencer Tatum and Andrew Harris filed complaints with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) over the department's sergeants' exams. Between 1993 and 1995, the department used test results to promote 30 white officers to the rank of sergeant, but no minorities, the complaint said.

In 2015, MCAD found that the officers had been discriminated against. Worcester appealed the decision, and a Superior Court judge sided with the city and threw out the matter.

The reason, the judge said at the time, was because of a federal lawsuit, Lopez I, brought by Boston police officers over that department's promotions exams. A federal judge ruled against those officers, finding that Boston's exams were valid.

The appeals court ruling on Tuesday reversed that 2015 decision based on the Lopez I case. The Lopez I case only dealt with Boston's exams, Tuesday's decision read in part, and covered a different time period.

The appeals court judges said that Worcester may have to appeal the MCAD finding again in a lower court.