Phone: (516) 487-8207
Disabled man awarded $500,000 in police hiring bias suit The Associated Press PITTSBURGH - A man with a deformed hand and a history of alcoholism was awarded $500,000 Tuesday, when a federal court jury agreed that a suburban borough wrongly passed him over when he applied to be a police officer. H. Timothy S. Kreger, 38, of Bethel Park, sued Baldwin borough last year. Kreger alleged he was wrongly passed over when the Pittsburgh suburb hired three new officers six years ago, even though he was ranked second out of six potential candidates. Kreger was born with a left hand that is missing two fingers and has a third malformed digit. Despite that, he has passed the borough's agility test and all other requirements of the job - and he's worked as a police officer elsewhere according to his attorney, Samuel Cordes. "It's a disability that Tim has learned to overcome," Cordes said. Kreger alleged he was told he wasn't hired because he didn't interview well. But Kreger later discovered that a member of the borough's Civil Service Commission objected to hiring Kreger, telling police Chief Christopher Kelly, "You're not going to hire that drunk and cripple," according to his lawsuit. Kreger currently works as a part-time officer in West Homestead, another Pittsburgh suburb, and has previously been a police officer in Pittsburgh and Homestead, another suburb. Borough attorney Patricia Monahan declined comment because she said there were still aspects of the case being litigated. Kreger said he wants his attorney to file a motion seeking a court order to force Baldwin to hire him.
Read More About Pittsburgh Disabled man awarded $500,000 in police hiring bias suit...