Two Black Louisville police officers sue department, allege discrimination

Two Black Louisville Metro Police officers are suing the department, alleging they faced discrimination, a hostile work environment and disparate punishment due to race and faith.

The lawsuit additionally claims the officers — Andre Shaw and Jay Moss — were not offered mental health care they requested, even after they responded to the Old National Bank mass shooting last April.

The officers are represented by Sara Collins and Sam Aguiar, the high-profile Louisville attorney who represented the family of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during a botched LMPD raid in 2020. The suit was filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on March 11.

Shaw and Moss worked together in LMPD’s recruitment unit until they were transferred to the Downtown Area Patrol as part of a punishment for an untruthfulness policy violation the suit said was retaliatory in nature and “disparate from prior discipline against similarly situated officers not in protected race, age or religion classes."

An LMPD spokesperson said the department is unable to comment on litigation pending in court. Lawsuits only represent one side of a legal dispute.

Collins said the officers risked their lives serving the community, including during the response to the Old National Bank shooting. "They are the epitome of what we hope officers and public servants will be and they have been treated unfairly, unequally and unlawfully," she said.

The allegations of discrimination laid out in the suit begin in 2017 when, according to the suit, Shaw was sent to Washington, D.C., as part of LMPD’s Honor Guard for Donald Trump’s inauguration.

After he completed his detail, Shaw “and certain other minority officers” had planned on visiting the Smithsonian’s African American Heritage Museum.

But upon hearing those plans, the lawsuit said, LMPD Sgt. Justin Bickett “issued an order to Officer Shaw and the others, requiring them to attend a speech of President Trump.”

That order, the lawsuit alleged, was “racially hostile, discriminatory, and harassing based on race” and was issued “outside the scope of [Bickett’s] authority.”

Later, Shaw, who is Muslim, and two unnamed officers quit the honor guard in protest. Shaw additionally told LMPD command staff that he “could no longer be in a position where he must work with Sgt. Bickett,” the lawsuit said.

Bickett did not respond to an email seeking comment. In response to a Courier Journal request to speak with Bickett, an LMPD spokesperson said the department was unable to make anybody available for interviews about the lawsuit until the case was adjudicated.

In 2021, Bickett, who is white, was picked to lead the recruitment unit, where Shaw and Moss served.

Following that move, there were even more allegations of discrimination outlined by the lawsuit:

• That Bickett “smirked and questioned Officer Shaw’s Islamic artwork and quotations on the wall.”

• That Bickett would reject Shaw’s ideas only to later adopt them for the unit and claim them as his own.

• That Bickett told Shaw he was "the biggest pain in my a--."

• That in December 2021, a “grinch” was placed in Shaw’s office, a location only he and Bickett were meant to have access to, in a move that upset Shaw.

• That after Shaw raised issues of a “minority recruit” alerting him of “overtly racist comments” being made by LMPD officers in the training academy, he was told “LMPD command needed him to ‘shut up and dribble.’”

• That after Shaw complained about Bickett, current LMPD deputy chief Paul Humphrey, who is also Black, took to calling Shaw “Malcolm X.”

In 2022, Moss and Shaw came under an internal breach of policy investigation for truthfulness and were transferred to the Downtown Area Patrol.

The breach of policy investigation ultimately determined they had violated the department’s truthfulness policy, with then interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel writing they had been “intentionally deceptive” when asked about a colleague’s whereabouts by a lieutenant.

They received five-day suspensions and a permanent transfer to the Downtown Area Patrol — a punishment the lawsuit said is not in line with other policy violations of the same severity.

As The Courier Journal previously reported, following the truthfulness violation, Shaw and Moss were placed on the department’s “Brady” list — its list of officers with credibility issues whose testimony may not be trusted in court. A copy of LMPD's December 2023 Brady list had just eight names on it including Moss and Shaw.

The lawsuit, which referenced The Courier Journal’s reporting on the Brady list, mentioned that white officers deemed to have lied to the department in the investigation of the drinks-throwing ‘Slushygate’ incidents were absent from the list.

Race, the lawsuit alleged, is why Shaw and Moss faced greater punishment.

“The Plaintiffs’ actions were nowhere close to as egregious as those of white officers who received either no discipline or far less discipline for similar conduct,” the lawsuit said.

In April last year, Moss and Shaw were among the first officers to enter the Old National Bank after a mass shooting left five people dead in addition to the shooter, the lawsuit said. After responding to the shooting, the lawsuit said, the officers repeatedly told supervisors, including the chief, that they needed mental health counseling.

While officer wellness has been a major talking point for LMPD in recent years, the lawsuit said Moss and Shaw did not receive mental health counseling and instead were given a 1-800 number for a mental health care provider by Lt. Col. Steve Healey, who is now a deputy chief at LMPD.

As a result of the mass shooting, the officers were unable to go past the Old National Bank building for months, the lawsuit said. They eventually sought out mental health care specialists on their own.

Later in 2023, Moss was suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into an incident in which he allegedly used force against a man who was consuming drinks in the Louisville Marriott Downtown's gift shop and refusing to leave.

Shaw also came under investigation, the lawsuit said, for not having his body camera on while responding to the Marriott incident.

Additionally, the lawsuit said, Moss was not allowed to attend an LMPD training in December although other LMPD officers on administrative leave were allowed to attend.

The lawsuit additionally alleged Shaw faced retaliation from LMPD in part because he filed a federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint about the department in 2023 alleging discriminatory practices.

Last year, Louisville Metro Government paid out more than $600,000 to settle two lawsuits alleging racial discrimination by a Metro Parks supervisor.

Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @JWoodJourno.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Black Louisville police officers sue department, allege discrimination