Kalamazoo Public Safety Lt. alleges chief discriminated in promoting staff

Lieutenant Stacey Randolph alleges the chief discriminated against her in 2009 and 2010 when he promoted white male officers instead of her. The chief denied the allegations in a court filing this week.

Lieutenant Stacey Randolph is the first and only African-American female supervisor at the Kalamazoo Public Safety Department. She applied for a promotion on two separate occasions in the past two years. Both times a white male got the job. Randolph scored equal to or better than other candidates.

In court papers filed this week, the city’s attorney notes the test determines the pool of candidates, not who will ultimately get the job.

The documents also say the chief told Randolph “despite her good work and her ability she was not chosen because senior staff felt they could not trust her.” Senior staff in the department felt  if they said the wrong thing and Randolph was present, she’d sue them. But the attorney says that was only one of the reasons she didn’t get the job. He denies race or gender were a factor in the decision not to promote Randolph.