|
A former Northwestern University police officer says he was racially targeted at work and fired after filing a discrimination claim.
By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published October 29, 2009
A Chinese American police officer who worked at Northwestern University says he was wrongfully terminated from his job after filing a racial discrimination claim.
Freddie Lee, 27, said he worked at the Northwestern University Police Department for four years and experienced ongoing racial discrimination beginning in 2006.
He filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, in September, alleging that his situation at work had become unbearable. On Sept. 10 he was put on paid leave.
Lee said he received notification of his termination on Oct. 21. The letter, Lee said, outlines that he was terminated for not cooperating with a psychological evaluation and a directive to not contact anyone in the university or at the police department. Lee alleges that his colleagues and superiors discriminated against him based on his ethnicity and retaliated when he spoke out.
“It was drawn out through a period of years. Multiple people have been racially discriminating against me and retaliating against me,” Lee said in a phone interview shortly before he received the termination letter.
Lee said he plans to file another claim with the EEOC for wrongful termination and retaliation. His lawyer, Justin London, says they will likely not enter mediation and instead file a lawsuit.
“They’ve made things even worse,” London explained in a phone call the day after the Lee was fired. “Everything they’ve done has exacerbated it. They made things worse certainly by firing him yesterday without cause.”
London said other Asian American and African American officers have come forward with claims of discrimination.
University officials refute Lee’s claims.
“The allegations made by Mr. Lee in the claim filed with the EEOC have no merit,” said Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations in an e-mail. “Beyond that the university will not comment as this is a personnel matter.”
Police Officer: I Felt Helpless
In 2006 Lee said he walked into the police department’s locker room to hear his then-fellow officer using racial slurs like “Chink,” pretending to not see Lee. The officer, Lee said, has since been promoted to sergeant.
“He made that remark and then, like, three other officers said different things to me,” Lee explained. “And then it got to the point where I couldn’t handle it anymore because it got overwhelming.”
Lee told the Chicago Tribune that a female officer would say “ching-chong,” while a male officer called him “Fukudome Lee,” referring to a baseball player of Japanese ancestry.
Other incidents followed, Lee said.
In April of 2008, he said, he went to human resources to file a complaint and suggested that the situation be resolved by conducting a yearly department training program about cultural awareness, harassment and discrimination. He said the training took place later that year, but his work environment did not improve.
“Basically the people stopped saying negative comments to me, but they were targeting me in other ways,” Lee said.
His personal belongings, Lee said, were strewn across the locker room one day when he went at work. Lee said he surveyed other people’s things, which were still in order.
“So at that point I felt that it was racially motivated. I felt that it was a form of retaliation.”
Lee said he filed complaint, advising his supervisor of the situation, the same person who allegedly used a racial slur. The police department put him on “high surveillance,” Lee said.
In light of Lee’s allegations, APA students on campus organized an Oct. 27 cultural-awareness forum.
“I think from APAC — at least what I hear from my members — we’re all very concerned that this might be an issue,” said Amy Zhu, president of the student-run Asian Pacific American Coalition, or APAC. “We don’t really expect this to happen at this institution. Everyone is — we’re all very surprised.”
APAC members are not taking sides until all of the facts are available, Zhu said. But she said APAC stands against racial discrimination. Zhu, who is a Chinese American, added that she has never experienced discrimination firsthand on campus and thinks the university makes, “good attempts at promoting diversity on campus.”
Lee did not speak at APAC’s forum. He said he has been told that law enforcement would take action if he “trespassed” on campus. His wife was invited to speak on his behalf. Bill Yoshino, JACL Midwest regional director, was also invited to the forum.
“Freddie Lee has taken a courageous stand in what appears to be a pattern of racial abuse directed at him by fellow officers,” Yoshino said. “It’s sad to see an institution like Northwestern seemingly turn its back on racism in its midst, yet inspiring to see the interest and support Lee’s case has generated among the Asian American students at Northwestern.”
Lee’s Discrimination Claim
Days after Lee sent a Sept. 5 correspondence to his colleagues about respect in the workplace, he was put on paid leave.
“I didn’t know what else to do. I felt helpless,” Lee said.
Lee was also required, he said, to see a police psychologist or he would be written up for insubordination and possibly terminated. Lee said he complied.
“They try to do anything they possibly can to try to discredit me,” Lee said. “They sent me to the psychologist asking me all of these embarrassing, personal questions to discredit me.”
After being put on leave, Lee said his belongings in his locker — including a laptop, digital recorder and personal journal, among other things — were held at the police department.
“Just today they FedEx-ed and shipped me my items back after the fact of getting all this media attention,” Lee said. “And then when I get my items back they are all disorganized, misplaced. Stuff has been placed in evidence bags as if I’m a criminal.”
The EEOC will need to investigate Lee’s claim, said Linda Li with the San Francisco District office of the EEOC. Li said the EEOC could only sue state and local government agencies on age and Equal Pay Act issues.
“Therefore if a police officer who is a county employee files a complaint concerning national origin discrimination with EEOC, EEOC could investigate but would not be in a position to litigate (or talk about the case),” Li explained.
Lee said his life has been turned upside down.
“I do not want my job back because there is no way I can work in that environment again. I do not want an apology because it’s beyond that,” Lee said. “I mean it’s stressful. I can’t even have a real life anymore.”
|