Texas City Hit With Police Sex Discrimination Suit

The Justice Department has sued the Texas city of Corpus Christi, alleging that the police department has discriminated in hiring women by using a physical ability test few female applicants have been able to pass.

Federal prosecutors say only about one in five women who took the test between 2005 and 2009 passed it, compared to about two-thirds of the men. The last two years the pass rates for men and women increased due to a change in the cutoff scores, but the gap between men and women persisted.

A city spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the lawsuit.

The federal complaint filed Tuesday says the department hired 12 female entry-level officers and 113 males from 2005 to 2011.