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La Crosse Police Officer Files Federal Racial Discrimination Suit Against City

City Has Not Shown Much Interest In Settling Matter Out-Of-Court, Says Officer's Attorney

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A former La Crosse police officer has decided to move forward with a federal lawsuit against the city Police Department for racial discrimination.

Anthony Clark, an African-American man, first filed a lawsuit against the La Crosse Police Department last year for racial discrimination and retaliation. Discrimination lawsuits are filed jointly with state and federal equal rights agencies.

The state investigation was still underway when Clark decided to pursue a federal trial.

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Jim Birnbaum, Clark’s attorney, said a federal lawsuit is necessary because the city has shown little interest in resolving Clark’s case outside of court.

“Given that the city is unwilling to even respond to a communication from us, it’s evident they don’t want to talk as to how to resolve this, and so it leaves us no choice but to take the action we did,” he said.

Birnbaum said issues within city departments reflect the bigger issue of racial discrimination in the U.S.

“It’s not just La Crosse that hasn’t really kept pace with what they should be doing in terms of their understanding and their training regarding minorities,” Birnbaum said. “And it applies not only to the community, but it also applies to the officers who are employed by the city.”

Wendy Oestriech, the city’s director of human resources, said La Crosse will continue to defend itself against Clark’s allegations.