Embattled Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge was being sued by four high-ranking officers claiming she discriminated against white lieutenants while doling out promotions and assignments using a “race-based quota system.”
The lawsuit, filed in May, resurfaced as Theetge faces scrutiny amid her department’s investigation into the high-profile vicious street beatdown of a defenseless white woman in the Ohio city last weekend.
Capt. Robert Wilson and Lieutenants Patrick Caton, Gerald Hodges and Andrew Mitchell claimed in the suit that the police chief bypassed them for positions they deserved — and instead gave minority and female lieutenants preferential treatment, Newsweek reported.
“These assignments, which offer significant professional and financial benefits, have been disproportionately awarded to non-white and/or female officers, often disregarding merit, qualifications, or legitimate business needs,” the lawsuit claimed, local Fox19 reported.
“The public deserves a police department that upholds equal treatment under the law, and we trust the judicial process will deliver a just outcome.”
Theetge was allegedly “personally involved in the assignment decisions” and used a “race-based quota system” to promote minorities and women to career-enhancing positions, the suit states.
Coveted “preferred-assignments” were doled out to 79% of minority lieutenants and 89% of female lieutenants in 2023 — but just 44% of white male Lieutenants were given the assignment, the lawsuit claimed.
The officers are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief in the ongoing civil case that names Theetge and the city of Cincinnati as defendants.
Theetge is currently embroiled in another racially-tinged controversy as cops in the Queen City continue their investigation into the wild brawl — which went viral when footage emerged showing a group of black suspects beating two white victims.
Critics have called out the police department for not moving quickly enough to arrest the suspects, with Vice President JD Vance, a former Ohio senator, urging cops to “throw their asses in prison.”
“The cops in Cincinnati, the law enforcement, you gotta prosecute people. We’ve had way too much lawlessness on the streets of great American cities,” Vance said during a speech on July 28, two days after the beatdown.
“The only way to destroy that street violence is to take the thugs who engaged in that violence and throw their ass in prison.”
He further stated that police officers in Ohio needed to be more emboldened to address crime.
A Russian woman identified as “Holly” was sucker-punched by a man in the disturbing attack that elicited “ooos” from a crowd of onlookers, some of whom filmed on their phones instead of coming to her aid.
When one man did come to her aid, he was savagely beaten, too.
Only one person at the scene called 911 during the brutal episode.
A fourth person, Dominique Kittle, 37, was arrested in connection to the attack on Friday, nearly a week after the shocking incident. Three other alleged attackers — Jermaine Matthews, 39; Montianez Merriweather, 34; and Dekyra Vernon, 24 — were arrested earlier last week.
Two more suspects, who have not been publicly identified, are being tracked down by a fugitive task force, authorities said.
