MAHONING COUNTY Judge dismisses civil rights suit alleging race-based demotion

The judge said there was no evidence that the test was discriminatory.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A federal court magistrate has dismissed a civil rights lawsuit filed by two Mahoning County Sheriff's Department deputies who contended their demotion from corporal was race-based.
In January, Columbus attorney Percy Squire filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of John S. Peace and William Walker, both of whom had failed the sergeant's test and were demoted from corporal to deputy. The position of corporal was abolished in the union contract, and corporals who failed the promotional test were demoted to deputy but retained their same pay.
Allegations
The lawsuit against Sheriff Randall A. Wellington alleged that Peace and Walker were discriminated against because they are black. Peace, of Campbell, was hired in March 1989. Walker, of Youngstown, was hired in 1984.
The sergeant's test was given in 2002. The demotion to deputy wiped out whatever supervisory powers Peace and Walker had.
U.S. Magistrate Judge George J. Limbert, in a recent opinion and order, granted summary judgment to Wellington. The judge said the plaintiffs offered no evidence to suggest that the motive for eliminating the rank of corporal was discriminatory.
"They didn't have to compete -- come in first -- they just had to pass," Pat Daugherty, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141/Ohio Labor Council senior staff representative, said in January of the corporals who failed the test. "By law, the sheriff can abolish positions."