He says state police denied him promotion for 13 years because he is a white male
By: James A. McClear, The Detroit News
April 12, 1998
PONTIAC - Bradley R. Breedveld says he was passed over for promotion to sergeant after 20 years as a Michigan state trooper because he is a white man.
On Tuesday, Breedveld's lawsuit over his charges will begin in Oakland County Circuit Court. He's the third state trooper to claim he was discriminated against because of a former department policy that awards bonus points in competitive examinations to minorities and women.
While the department has discontinued its "augmentation" policy, it still considers eligible candidates' race and gender in promotions, said Breedveld's lawyer, James K. Fett of Ann Arbor.
The state police lost two reverse discrimination cases brought by Fett. A 1996 Livingston County verdict awarded more than $1 million to Trooper Thomas Cremonte, while in a May 1997 verdict, a jury in Shiawassee County gave Trooper Barry Lewis $381,526.
"The Cremonte and Lewis judgments did not remedy discrimination against white males in the state police," Fett said. "Reverse discrimination is still standard operating procedure. There is still a race and gender determinative factor as to who is going to be promoted."
Neither Col. Michael Robinson, director of the force, nor Capt. Tim Youngfer, state police personnel director, were available for comment. The Attorney General's office also did not return calls seeking comment.
Breedveld, who works out of the Ypsilanti post, has been testing for the sergeant's examination since 1985. He has been passed over each time. The test is offered every two years.
"I'm horrified that in this day and age, state agencies still use race and gender to see who gets jobs and promotions," Fett said. "This guy has a sparkling record, a master's degree in criminal justice and a personnel file that's squeaky clean, excellent evaluations, uniformly outstanding."
Until 1994, state police practices required candidates to score 92 to 100 on a test to be eligible for promotion. However, minorities and women who scored from 83 to 91 were bumped up the list to augment the pool of candidates, according to court records.
The practice was discontinued in 1994, but minorities and female status still are taken into consideration as a way to diversify the state police command structure.
