A senior officer with the New Castle County Police Department is suing the county, the police chief and three officers for discrimination and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Senior Sgt. Donovan Delaney has a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, his lawyer Martin Haverly said. It’s caused by curly facial hair growing back into the skin after shaving, which can cause painful bumps and scarring. It affects over half of Black men, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.
Because of this condition, Delaney did not comply with the New Castle County Police Department’s policy requiring officers to shave their beards. The decision led to animosity and discrimination from other officers, Haverly said, motivating Delaney to take nine weeks of medical leave to deal with his stress.
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In July 2020, Delaney filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, stating that he faced discrimination for his race and skin condition, which he classifies as a disability protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A settlement agreement was eventually reached.
However, Haverly claims in the lawsuit that retaliation from the police department only worsened, and that the county later violated the settlement agreement.
Delaney was demoted from his position on the “prestigious” Mobile Enforcement Team despite having more experience, the lawsuit states, and transferred to an overnight patrol. Haverly said in a press release that these involuntary transfers are “one way that many police departments attempt to chill the exercising of civil rights by its police officers.”
A spokesperson for New Castle County declined to comment. The president of the Delaware State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police said he had not yet received or reviewed the case when asked for comment.
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Delaney is not the first Black police officer to sue for discrimination over pseudofolliculitis barbae. A former University of Pennsylvania police officer claimed that despite medical reasoning, not shaving his beard created a “hostile work environment” and motivated the school to fire him in 2016.
He sued the university for violating his rights, but ultimately lost his lawsuit in 2018. An appeal the following year led to a partial reversal of the decision, though the appeals court primarily sided with the district court’s decision.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
