Raymond Langley, a Macomb County sheriff's deputy, has disturbing allegations to unleash in federal court in his upcoming racial discrimination lawsuit against the county.
Reporter Jameson Cook of the Macomb Daily reports that Langley, 44, is claiming his bosses discriminated against him because of race and created a hostile work environment. Trial in U.S. District Court in Detroit is set for Nov. 18
Cook breaks down some of the allegations that include:
- A black lawn jockey-type ceramic figure named “Jamal” was placed at the Macomb township substation, where he sometime worked. It had a necklace similar to one he owned and it sometimes had the sign “You dumb ass M----- F-----” or a photo of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
- On the MLK holiday in 2009 someone placed an Aryan Nation book in his patrol car. A disciplinary form was tucked inside.
- On Easter Sunday in 2008, someone put on Langley's screen saver on his patrol vehicle a black cartoon figure drinking beer and roasting a pig on an island that was surrounded by sharks, accompanied by the words, “I smell bacon.”
- • When he returned a call to a department dispatcher in 2008, the dispatcher yelled: “Who called Buckwheat?
The county has denied any wrongdoing and says his allegations are off base.
“The plaintiff’s allegations are meritless," Interim county attorney John Schapka told the Macomb Daily. "The county defendants are looking forward to a trial before a jury and a resolution in the county’s favor.”
In another allegation, the Macomb Daily wrote:
In February 2008, a corrections officer explained why “nigger” was not a racially offensive word shortly after Langley heard several deputies talk about another deputy referring to a black suspect as a “nigger” while spraying him with mace.
