Little Rock city board authorizes legal settlement with police sergeant who claimed discrimination, retaliation

The Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday voted to authorize two settlements to end lawsuits against the city.

The resolutions were added to the consent agenda and then approved in a voice vote without discussion of the litigation.

One authorizes a $42,000 settlement with a Little Rock Police Department employee, Sgt. Derrick Threadgill.

Following a mediation process that was attended by the city manager and chief deputy city attorney, the parties reached a settlement to end all claims in the Threadgill litigation without an admission of liability by the city, the resolution approved Tuesday says.

In January 2020, Threadgill sued the city of Little Rock, former police Chief Kenton Buckner and then-Assistant Chiefs Hayward Finks and Alice Fulk in Pulaski County Circuit Court, claiming he was subjected to unlawful discrimination on the basis of his race and age, retaliation and a hostile work environment.

In his initial complaint, which was later amended, Threadgill, who is Black, tied the alleged retaliatory conduct to his membership in the Little Rock Black Police Officers Association.

The complaint suggested that a 30-day suspension Threadgill received in 2017 related to his response to a potential domestic dispute was motivated by his membership in the association and his race.

The Little Rock Civil Service Commission later overturned the punishment, and the city appealed the decision to circuit court. Circuit Judge Herbert Wright, the same judge overseeing Threadgill's 2020 lawsuit, sided with the Civil Service Commission in 2021 and dismissed the city's appeal.

In the original complaint, Threadgill claimed he had been passed over for detective positions within the major crimes division, resulting in lost wages.

Along with two fellow Little Rock police officers and one former officer, Threadgill was one of the initial plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city in federal court in 2018 that claimed race and age discrimination, First Amendment retaliation and violations of the Arkansas Whistle-Blower Act. Threadgill later voluntarily left the litigation.

Last year, Threadgill applied to become Little Rock's police chief following the resignation of former Chief Keith Humphrey. (The position ultimately went to Heath Helton.)

The other resolution the city board approved Tuesday authorizes a $12,000 settlement with Thomas Larrison Jr., who sued the city in December 2019.

Larrison claimed Little Rock police searched his residence on Dec. 31, 2017, and took possession of "a collection of exotic and expensive firearms along with other personal property" valued at more than $75,000.

The complaint said property worth $40,000 was never returned to Larrison, who asked the judge to award him the same amount.

Like Threadgill's, Larrison's lawsuit was settled via mediation without an admission of liability from the city, according to the resolution.

Print Headline: LR directors OK lawsuit settlements

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