Baltimore, Maryland - The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) against Baltimore County and the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD).  The lawsuit alleges that since Jan. 1, 2013, BCPD has engaged in unintended employment discrimination against African American applicants for entry-level police officer and cadet positions by making hiring decisions based on the results of hiring examinations that were not job-related and that disproportionately excluded African American applicants.

Through this lawsuit, the United States seeks a Court order that would require BCPD to utilize selection procedures that comply with Title VII, and to provide individual remedies to African American former applicants who are shown to be entitled to them.

“Employers must be mindful that an employment selection device, like a test, must be shown to be job-related if it disproportionately excludes members of one of Title VII’s protected groups,” stated Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.