MACOMB COUNTY – Three white male guards who sued the Michigan Department of Corrections over alleged reverse discrimination of New Haven Correctional Facility and elsewhere have settled their claims.

But the department, which is trying to resolve many cases over its now-defunct promotions policy, admits no wrongdoing and claims the payoffs estimated at $460,000 are less costly in money and emotions than a court battle.

Officials last week agreed to dismiss the lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court by James M. Webster, a corrections officer who alleged he missed out on promotions in favor of equal or lesser qualified minorities.

Under an out-of-court settlement, his attorney said, Webster will collect $225,000 while fellow guards Tony Stevenson and Douglas Snarski collect $175,000 and $60,000 respectively.

“We’re satisfied with that,” said James Fett, the guards’ attorney. “Going to court is a gamble; you roll the dice. We’re confident we could prevail but it could be a long and costly process. And it’s hard for these men to maintain good relations with their employers while they’re suing.”

Under a policy which corrections officials discontinued in 1997, guards and other staffers seeking promotion took an eligibility test and placed into three different “bands” based on scores.

If fewer than three appeared in the top-scoring “first bank,” the department would then dip into its second band for more minority candidates.

Webster, a white male who scored in the second band, claims he lost promotions to second-band minorities, while Snarski allegedly scored in the first band and also missed out. Snarski’s damages were less than the others, Fett explained, because he was eventually promoted.

“We try not to place a burden on taxpayers when we resolve these things. It is always unacceptable to (settle for so much money),” said Matt Davis, a spokesman for the Corrections Department. “But given the poisonous nature and effect on race relations, we may have gotten a great bargain.”

As Originally published in the Macomb Daily, August 24, 2001, by Chad Halcom.