CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department is suing Rhode Island and its Department of Corrections on employment discrimination allegations.
The Justice Department announced the lawsuit Monday, saying the state and the Corrections Department are discriminating against minorities seeking correctional officer jobs.
Federal authorities say the way in which Corrections Department officials use written and video examinations of correctional officer job applicants disproportionately screens out blacks and Hispanics.
The Providence Journal reports (https://bit.ly/1ePWtwg ) that Corrections Department Director A.T. Wall deferred questions about the allegations to the state Attorney General’s Office, which declined to comment Monday night because officials are reviewing the lawsuit.
The Corrections Department says 19 percent of its more than 900 correctional officers are minorities and nearly 28 percent of more than 100 recently hired officers are minorities.
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Information from: The Providence Journal, https://www.providencejournal.com
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