Records: $50K settled officer racial discrimination lawsuit

WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Records show a former western Indiana police officer who appealed his firing has accepted $50,000 to settle a 2015 federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

The Tribune-Star reports Jonathan Stevens signed an agreement in January 2017 to resolve the complaint he'd filed. He had alleged that West Terre Haute town council members improperly blocked his hiring as a full-time police officer. Stevens, who is black, said they didn't want "his kind" working for the town.

The settlement amount was disclosed to the newspaper by West Terre Haute after the newspaper filed a public records request.

Stevens was subsequently hired, but the 42-year-old was fired from his job in November after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with an off-duty 2017 domestic battery case. His appeal of his firing is pending.

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This story has been corrected to show that Stevens' complaint alleged that West Terre Haute town council members improperly blocked his hiring as a full-time police officer.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com