City must pay lost wages to officer who used racial slur

CINCINNATI (AP) — An arbitrator ruled that the city of Cincinnati must pay lost wages to a black police officer who was suspended for using a racial slur.

Officer Donte Hill was given a written reprimand after he was recorded using a slur while responding to a fight in November 2018, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Chief Eliot Isaac had Hill’s case reviewed a month later when a white officer named Dennis Barnette was also recorded using a racial slur while trying to arrest a black woman at a nightclub.

Both Hill and Barnette received unpaid suspensions.

The two officers filed lawsuits against the city this spring.

Cincinnati’s police union argued Hill was being subjected to double jeopardy and that his use of the word was not discriminatory.

The city said the case was reopened because Isaac hadn’t read an earlier memo closely enough to see what language Hill used.

“Simply put, Chief Isaac erred in not reading the memo closely enough,” the arbitrator wrote. “That his error was later brought to his attention does not justify trying to correct it by disciplining (Hill) again. Rather, the City must live with the error.”

Barnette’s case against the city is still under arbitration, said Dan Hils, Cincinnati’s police union president.

The city did not immediately respond to the Enquirer’s request for comment.