Judge rejects reverse discrimination claims made by 2 Michigan State Police officers
LANSING — A federal judge has rejected claims from two high-ranking Michigan State Police officials that they were subjected to reverse discrimination when one was fired and the other demoted over their handling of a personnel matter.
In March 2020, Inspector R. Michael Hahn was fired and Capt. Michael Caldwell was demoted to inspector after the MSP determined they improperly interfered in the handling of a transfer request in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula.
Both claimed that was only a pretext and they were really singled out for discipline because they spoke out against the agency's diversity initiatives, which they see as discriminatory, unlawful and unfair to white males such as themselves.
Hahn and Caldwell, who at the time of the discipline each had more than 30 years with the state agency, sued the MSP and its director, Col. Joseph Gasper, in federal court in Grand Rapids, alleging discrimination and retaliation.
On Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker granted summary judgment to the defendants and dismissed the case, saying there was "scant evidence" that Gasper had any involvement in their discipline and they had not shown they were subjected to reverse discrimination based on their gender or race, or that they were retaliated against.
Hahn and Caldwell "plainly disagree as a policy matter with the priorities of the Michigan State Police," Jonker wrote in a 35-page opinion. "And at bottom, this is all they have shown."
More: Michigan Senate passes bill to end state use of text encryption apps that can evade FOIA
More: MSP director to officers: Remove text messaging app Signal from state phones
Jim Fett, the Pinckney attorney representing Hahn and Caldwell, said Tuesday he plans to appeal to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and also will explore options at the state court level.
"This is not over," Fett said.
Hahn and Caldwell were disciplined on the grounds that Hahn used his position to "bully and intimidate" officers under his command who were involved in considering a transfer request he did not want approved and Caldwell sought to "undermine the selection process."
But they allege they became "personas non grata" after they were critical of Gasper's plan to increase diversity at the MSP, which they said was identified as the agency's top priority at a 2019 meeting where Gasper described the MSP as "way too white and way too male."
Gasper, in a statement issued through a spokeswoman, said he is pleased with the decision.
"This affirms what we have said from the beginning — the claims are false," Gasper said. "There never was, or will be, employment, promotion, retention, or any other personnel practice decisions made motivated by bias or based on discrimination."
The case did lead to a change in state law.
When Fett sought to obtain communications among Gasper and other top MSP officials related to the disciplining of Hahn and Caldwell, it was revealed that many top officials had a text messaging encryption application called Signal on their state phones that can evade legal discovery by leaving no trace of text messages, once they are deleted.
After the Free Press highlighted the MSP use of Signal in a series of articles, the Legislature passed, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law, a measure prohibiting the use of such apps on state phones.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge rejects reverse discrimination claims by MSP officers
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