Kansas City Police Department ‘beard policy’ cost almost $90,000 in officer settlements
The Kansas City Police Department has now paid out $88,700 in separate settlements to Black officers who said a policy that required them to be clean shaven discriminated against them.
The so-called “beard policy” allowed no exception — even with a doctor’s note — for those who suffer from a skin condition that mostly affects Black men and makes shaving painful and harmful.
Several officers filed lawsuits in response to the policy. A few others received settlements before actually filing civil lawsuits against KCPD.
The department this month agreed to settle two claims, with officers Joseph Alexander and Daniel Vasquez, for $12,000 and $14,700 respectively. A third lawsuit, filed by officer John Wyatt, is scheduled for a jury trial in late June.
Two other officers received $62,000 over the policy.
Gerald Gray II, the attorney for four officers, said he is pleased that the beard policy has been lifted and the claims against his clients have been settled.
KCPD has reached a mutual agreement with the officers but could not discuss any other details because it involved personnel matters, said Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the police department.
“We are pleased the issue was resolved,” Foreman told The Star in an email.
Police had maintained that the directive, which has been rescinded, was issued to ensure N95 masks fit properly during the pandemic.
Chief Rick Smith issued the policy in March 2020.
But many Black officers said using a razor to be clean shaven would cause them to suffer from a skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae that results in painful ingrown hairs, inflammation and scarring on their faces.
And one officer also said the policy was not enforced evenly.
After the policy was implemented, Officer Titus Golden saw two white officers, each sporting full beards, go about their business as if nothing was wrong.
But Golden, who is Black, was told if he refused to shave, he would have to use personal time and not come to work. He was placed on limited duty, he said, and was not able to carry his gun or badge.
To Golden and many Black officers, the beard policy was one example of unfair and uneven disciplinary practices inside the police department. In a yearlong investigation published by The Star on Sunday, Black officers say they are often harassed and forced out through unfair punishment.
The Star interviewed several Black officers who challenged the beard policy and prevailed.
“I want to be treated fairly,” Golden wrote in an email to human resources, which was obtained by The Star, “and I ask that the department truly make an effort to change the culture and discriminatory treatment so many of us have faced during our time working here.”
In May 2021, Alexander, Vasquez and Wyatt filed separate but similar lawsuits against the police department over the beard order.
The officers said they had skin conditions requiring them to seek accommodation to the order. They each alleged discrimination. They lost sleep, were stressed out and were “fearful of what else might happen” to them, according to their lawsuits.
The policy was rescinded on June 11, 2020. Officers who have a physician’s note are permitted to wear beards, according to an existing police department policy.
Golden was one of two Black officers who earlier received a combined $62,000 to settle racial discrimination claims over the policy.
One of the largest discrimination settlements KCPD has paid in recent history, unrelated to the beard policy, went to Scott Wells. The former officer filed a racially-charged disability harassment claim and got $515,000.
During his two decades at KCPD, Wells said sergeants frequently criticized him for small, insignificant infractions like leaving a soda cup in a police van or forgetting to log off of computers.
One sergeant berated Wells about his diabetes and made racist comments.
Wells told The Star that being a Black officer in the department was like “being a mouse in a snake case.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
