Bonenberger v. St. Louis Metro. Police Dept., No. 14-3696 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, a white man, filed suit against officials of the St. Louis Police Department, alleging race discrimination and conspiracy to discriminate when an African-American woman was chosen for the position in which plaintiff applied. A jury found in favor of plaintiff on his claims against three of his superiors (Defendants Muxo, Harris, and Isom). Defendants appealed. The court concluded that materially different working conditions provided sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that plaintiff suffered an adverse employment action. Because there were “probative facts to support the verdict,” the district court did not err by denying defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law on plaintiff’s discrimination claims. The court also concluded that a reasonable jury could find evidence of a conspiracy to deprive plaintiff of his constitutional claims. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Riley, Author, with Gruender and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Employment discrimination. Jury verdict in favor of plaintiff on his claim defendants discriminated against him based on his race by denying his application for a transfer to the position of Assistant Academy Director is affirmed; the position plaintiff applied for had supervisory duties, more regular hours, greater prestige and chance for advancement, and the denial of a transfer to this position constituted an adverse employment action; there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find that the defendants conspired to deny plaintiff the transfer based on his race.
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