Roughly 380 one-time applicants to the Baltimore County Police could receive back pay from the county after they were rejected for hiring due to written examinations that the U.S. Department of Justice found to be racially discriminatory.
The back pay collected by individuals is expected to range from $445.29 to up to $7,862.77 per person, based on when they might have been hired without the biased exams, according to documents filed in federal court by county and Justice Deparment officials.
The records also show that 118 of the previously rejected applicants are eligible for “priority hiring” — a status that could include retroactive seniority, vacation benefits and a hiring bonus.
Federal Judge Catherine C. Blake approved a final list of eligible claimants June 17, issuing an order that found the proposal “fair, adequate and reasonable.” Of 393 one-time candidates who sought back pay, 377 were deemed eligible, a county spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
The court-approved list brings Baltimore County a step closer to meeting the terms of a 2020 settlement that resolved a federal lawsuit from the U.S. government over a series of written tests administered to police recruits that the Justice Department said were unfairly biased against Black applicants.
According to the suit, Black applicants failed the exams at a higher, “statistically significant” rate compared with white applicants, leading to fewer Black candidates being hired by the agency — which federal officials said amounted to an unlawful “pattern or practice of discrimination.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Baltimore County agreed to set aside a pot of $2 million to pay out to candidates who could have been hired but weren’t due to the faulty exam. It also was required to make 20 priority hires of Black applicants who previously took the test and failed. Those 20 still will have to complete the department’s normal screening and selection process.
To receive back pay, the former applicants were required to be Black, have taken and failed one of the challenged exams between 2010 and April 2019, and have met other qualifications for employment that existed at the time.
Court filings indicate there were 420 claimants and, of those, 393 sought back pay.
Fewer than 20 were found not eligible, mostly because they didn’t take and fail the written test in the required time period, while others were ruled out due to an unexpunged felony conviction or marijuana use within three years of testing.
The rest split the $2 million from the county based on the date of their first test failure.
That $2 million amount was based on the federal government’s estimation that 23 Black applicants would have been hired in the time period, without the impact of the tests. Blake, the judge, called that method of distribution the most equitable process, considering it’s not possible to determine which 23 of the 393 seeking back pay would’ve been hired.
Erica Palmisano, a spokeswoman for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., said the payments would be doled out after the eligible individuals file tax forms with the United States and the county’s claims administrator. No date has been set for the payments, she said. Officials previously said the payments would come from the county’s self-insurance fund.
Shelley Knox, the president of the Blue Guardians group, which represents about 200 people of color in the Baltimore County Police Department, said the group previously asked for an independent investigation of the agency’s entire hiring process, not just the written examination portion.
The court-approved list is a “clear first step,” said Knox, who is a police officer with the department, but Blue Guardians hopes to see “other things happen, in regards to the hiring of minorities to the Baltimore County Police Department,” she said of the overall hiring process.
Other parts of that process include a background investigation, polygraph test, agility test and other health clearances, Knox said.
The Baltimore Sun reported in 2019 that other area agencies used similar written exams, but most were from third-party vendors. The Baltimore County tests targeted by the lawsuit were created by the county’s Office of Human Resources.
Copies obtained by The Sun showed that tests included grammar, capitalization, logic, reading and other skills. The Justice Department suit alleged that at least some of the exams’ subject matter wasn’t related to being a police officer or cadet.
Under the terms of the settlement, the county also was required to hire a new test developer to create an exam without a disparate impact on Black applicants.
Palmisano said the county has hired a consultant, IOS Solutions, to develop a new exam.
The police department’s sworn members were roughly 78.8% white and 15.5% Black, as of June 17, according to figures provided by the agency.
Baltimore County itself is about 60% white and 30% Black, according to U.S. census estimates.
Police spokeswoman Joy Stewart said in a statement the agency continues to seek qualified, diverse applicants, and pointed to community hiring events held around the county, the department’s participation in an initiative meant to boost women in policing and its new chief diversity and inclusion officer position.
She said the agency also modified its “antiquated” application process to allow candidates who fail the written exam to retest. Only one attempt was allowed previously, Stewart said.
