CHICAGO – Chicago Police Officer Mohammad Yusuf reportedly had only three race selections — Caucasian, Black and Hispanic — to choose from when he was hired by the department in 2004, so he listed “Caucasian” on his official record. Now, the city offers “over nine” different racial designations for incoming officers but it refuses to allow Yusuf to select the nationality that he believes more accurately reflects his ethnicity, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit.
The civil action also claims the city has allowed employees to change their gender based upon how they currently “identify,” even though it conflicts with their birth gender. Therefore, Yusuf is suing the city after it has refused his requests to alter his “identified” race, the Daily Beast reported.
Yusuf, 43, “currently identifies as Egyptian and African American,” not “Caucasian,” according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week. The Chicago Police Department is allegedly prohibiting him from altering his race designation on his official record.
One element to Yusuf’s lawsuit alleges the department allows an officer’s “gender identity [to be] corrected to match their lived experience.”
The lawsuit specifically alleges the city of Chicago is in violation of Title V of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which has subsequently impacted Yusuf’s professional advancement, Fox News Digital reported.
Yusuf alleges that he has been continually overlooked for promotions during his 20-year career simply due to his “Caucasian” status. He further claims that promotions have been given to other minority applicants since CPD’s promotion system “particularly” benefits “minority candidates,” even if they did not score well on promotional exams, according to the lawsuit.
As a result of the process benefiting minorities, “Caucasian” candidates received very few promotional opportunities, the lawsuit claims.
Specifically, Yusuf said he “scored in the first promotional tier” on the sergeant’s exam in 2019. Yet, he was not promoted then and has still not received such a promotion.
In the lawsuit, Yusuf alleges that since 2019, the department has seen “over 75 Merit Promotions to sergeant,” with “less than five” going to candidates who identify as Caucasian.”
The civil action also says, “Despite Yusuf’s exemplary qualifications and the purported race-neutral policy of the Merit System, Yusuf has been repeatedly bypassed for promotion in favor of less qualified candidates, based on their race, specifically African American officers, some of whom had disciplinary issues and were not suitable for the responsibilities of a sergeant.”
Hence, Yusuf wants to change his race to more accurately reflect his identity, but is not allowed to do so as a result of a “blanket prohibition” against changing an officer’s race, the legal filing said.
After receiving several rejections to his request, Yusuf said he was told he would need to produce a DNA test before his race could officially be changed, the New York Post reported.
Therefore, he provided the results of a “23 and Me” genetic test, which showed his heritage and race. Nevertheless, the agency still said it was “not possible” to change his official record, he claims.
“The Racial Identity Policy Ban facially and intentionally discriminates against certain individuals based on personally identifiable characteristics like race,” the officer alleges in the suit.
When asked to comment on the lawsuit, the city replied, “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
