U. Police settle discrimination lawsuit

A Latino University Police officer's December 1997 lawsuit accusing the University and a top police official of discriminating against him because of his race ended in a confidential settlement last month. Demetrius Casillas' suit also charged Penn and Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush with discriminating against him and firing him because of his support for another officer who accused the University of discrimination. U.S. District Judge John Fullham dismissed the case with prejudice upon the settlement, meaning that the plaintiff cannot file the suit again. Neither side would say whether any money was exchanged or whether anyone admitted wrongdoing. "Mr. Casillas and the University of Pennsylvania came to an amicable resolution of that lawsuit," said Peter Williams, Casillas' attorney. "My party is satisfied? I'm assuming Maureen Rush and the University are, too." University outside counsel Neil Hamburg would not elaborate beyond saying that there was an "amicable arrangement." Casillas, a North Philadelphia resident, had sought back wages from his $35,000-a-year job, in addition to unspecified legal costs and damages. He claimed he was subjected to racial slurs throughout his three-year tenure as a University Police officer. The Division of Public Safety fired him in July 1996. The suit did not go into details about the incidents leading to the lawsuit beyond saying officials disciplined and fired Casillas for certain actions for which white and/or non-Latino officers were not disciplined. In early September 1996, Casillas filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. About a year later, he received a notice of a "right to sue." Casillas' suit was not the only one against the University to end in a confidential agreement this summer. In May, attorneys resolved a lawsuit over an alleged 1994 rape of a then-18-year-old freshman in Harrison House -- formerly High Rise South. There, too, neither side would say if there was any admission of wrongdoing or if the settlement had a financial component.