Arkansas Town Settles Ex-Officer’s Lawsuit for $500K

The Pine Bluff, Ark., City Council has agreed to a $500,000 settlement of a former police officer’s racial discrimination lawsuit and will reinstate him.

The agreement was approved on a 7-1 vote Mar. 1. It comes after former Sgt. Kelven Hadley won a federal lawsuit against the city in which he claimed race was a motivating factor for him being fired in December 2005.

The jury in the case had awarded Hadley nearly $638,000. That verdict and the lawsuit will be dismissed as part of the settlement.

The city and the Arkansas Municipal League’s legal defense fund will each pay $250,000 in the settlement.

Officials say Hadley will be reinstated as a police sergeant as early as next week