West Virginia Town Seeks Dismissal Of Discrimination Lawsuit Filed By Former Police Chief

On Aug. 28, the town of Rivesville, West Virginia, moved to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Lamon Simpson in Marion Circuit Court.

According to the Times West Virginian , Simpson filed his lawsuit on June 24, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated and discriminated against while employed by the town’s police department. Simpson’s representation, Sean Cook, told the outlet that his client faced several incidents of racially based harassment as well as inequitable treatment. One of those times included a phone call he received in which a caller inquired if he was the “n-word chief.”

In the suit, Simpson alleged that the mayor of the town at that time, Barbara Beatty, told him if he couldn’t handle being called the n-word, he needed to think about leaving his position.

The town’s response to the claims in Simpson’s lawsuit appears to be a point-by-point rebuttal and a call for the court to completely dismiss Count III of Simpson’s lawsuit, arguing that no policy or employment practice discriminated against Black people.

Attorney Jeffery M. Cropp wrote in the town’s motion to dismiss, “In his complaint, Plaintiff has not identified any employment practice or policy that caused a disparate impact on African Americans or on any other class protected by the West Virginia Human Rights Act.”

Cropp continued, “Rather, the crux of his Complaint is that Defendant discriminated against just him.”

In addition to this, according to court papers, the town either flatly denied Simpson’s allegations or claimed not to have knowledge of information related to some of his assertions in his complaint. The town denied that Beatty told Simpson to rethink his employment if he couldn’t deal with hearing the n-word.

The town of Rivesville denied claims that its population of Black and other people of color is small, despite Census data supporting those claims. According to reports, the town mentioned an incident in which a firefighter suggested that Simpson was stopping too many white people.

Notably, although the town’s response seems meticulous, it also left out several key details, like why they actually fired Simpson or why they replaced him with Nathan Lanham at a higher pay than Simpson received. It only said that there was a legitimate business reason for the change.

Cook, Simpson’s attorney, issued a statement to the outlet, affirming his desire to fight for his client against the town’s litigation efforts.

“We are committed to ensuring that justice is served and that Mr. Simpson is compensated for the unlawful actions taken against him,” Cook said. “No individual should face discrimination or retaliation for upholding the law and performing his duties with integrity.”

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