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A former West Virginia police officer said he received an anonymous message with racial slurs declaring "war" after he became chief.
According to WDTV, ex-police chief Lamon Simpson filed a lawsuit against the town of Rivesville, alleging wrongful termination and discrimination.
Simpson said he was fired in July 2022 by two city council members who declined to give him a reason for his termination. However, in his lawsuit, Simpson details several incidents he believes led to his firing.
At the beginning of his employment in 2021, Rivesville Mayor Barbara Beatty allegedly told Simpson that if he “could not handle being called the N-word, he should reconsider the position because he was going to hear this term during his employment." Another council member said she wished “we could go back to the way policing was done in the 1960s,” the lawsuit states.
Simpson was also allegedly accused of being “a racist cop who only pulls over and targets white people" when the percentage of Black citizens in Rivesville is officially reported as 0 percent.
In February 2022, Simpson received an anonymous call on his department cell phone stating “Is this the n----- chief? This means war!” Simpson filed a police report and began parking his vehicle in the local garage instead of on the street in fear of vandalism. When Simpson informed Beatty about the incident, the mayor allegedly responded “Oh, ok,” and declined to take action.
The lawsuit states that tensions grew between Rivesville Town Clerk Erika Corwin and Simpson in May 2022 after he pulled over her mother who was illegally parked in a vehicle outside of an abandoned house with a man associated with drug activity. The clerk later stated that she was submitting her two-week resignation notice but when Simpson was fired, Corwin was still employed, according to the lawsuit.
After he was fired, Simpson also alleged that his replacement, Officer Nathan Lanham, contacted his new employer with multiple false accusations, including that he didn't turn in all of his equipment at the time of his termination.
The lawsuit accuses the town of disparate treatment, discrimination, wrongful discharge based on race, hostile work environment, retaliation, defamation, and more. Simpson is requesting damages and a jury trial.
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