California Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Police Officer's Religious Discrimination Claim

In Longmire v. City of Oakland, (CA App., July 28, 2014), a California appellate court upheld a trial court's dismissal of a religious discrimination suit filed by a police sergeant who claimed that an 8-day suspension imposed on him was based on his superior's perception that he was a Black Muslim. Plaintiff, Derwin Longmire, had been the center of a controversy over his handling of the investigation of the murder of a prominent African-American journalist who was allegedly killed because he was writing an unfavorable story about a Black Muslim bakery. Longmire was not disciplined for that investigation, but was for his handling of ten other cases. The appeals court held that Longmire failed to show that he was perceived to be a Black Muslim or that the reasons given for his suspension were pretextual. San Jose Mercury News reports on the decision.