If you wanted to get a job with the Denver Sheriff’s Department, you needed to meet the job requirements just like anywhere else. But there was one difference and it was unconstitutional to request it of job applicants. Job seekers would be automatically disqualified from a job at the Denver Sheriff’s department if they were not a U.S. citizen.
And as the Department cut millions of dollars in overtime pay from their overworked deputies, they aimed to hire scores of new people and put them on the streets with guns. To get one of their largest applicant pools in history, the department placed an ad and listed U.S. citizenship as a requirement
By spring 2016, the department had hired 200 new deputies, flooding the workplace with lower paid employees, reducing the amount veterans and senior officers were making in overtime.
But now the Justice Department has slapped the Sheriff’s Department with a meager fine of $10,000 for purposely discriminating against job seekers. Learn more about this crime below!
Besides issuing Denver’s Sheriff’s Department with the fine, the Justice Department has handed over a list to help the sheriff mitigate their discriminatory hiring practices and give job applicants a fair chance.
The Denver Sheriff’s Department admitted they were wrong and that it was all an accident. Then they issued the following statement:
“The Denver Sheriff Department maintains its commitment to treat all people with dignity and respect, and is proud to have one of the most diverse workplaces in Colorado,” said Denver Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Simon Crittle. “While we didn’t commit this violation intentionally, we accept responsibility and are taking steps to clarify policy and amend language in hiring documents.”