ST. LOUIS — A federal judge has dismissed an age discrimination lawsuit involving a high ranking member of the St. Louis Police Department who once filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the City alleging he was passed over for a promotion because he is white.
Maj. Michael Caruso alleged he was forced to retire when he turned 65, even though he claimed other officers were allowed to stay on the force past the retirement age.
U.S. Magistrate Shirley Padmore Mensah dismissed Caruso’s lawsuit Monday in a 12-page ruling, which concluded the department acted within employment laws when forcing Caruso’s retirement at 65. Mensah also concluded Caruso did not prove his forced retirement was in retaliation for his racial discrimination lawsuit or that other officers were allowed to stay on the force beyond 65.
“His allegation that ‘Plaintiff was fired in retaliation for filing the Discrimination Lawsuit against the City’ is a conclusion without support from any factual allegations,” Mensah wrote. “The allegations show that plaintiff was terminated more than 58 months after he filed his discrimination lawsuit.
“Any potential inference of causation based on temporal proximity ‘evaporates’ after such a large lapse in time between the protected activity and adverse action.”
Attorney J.C. Pleban said Caruso is weighing his appellate options.
Caruso also did not identify other officers who were allowed to stay on the force beyond 65 years of age or establish how they were “similarly situated” to him, Mensah also wrote.
In his lawsuit, Caruso alleged Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards made “disparaging comments about moving younger guys up,” as the reason for his retirement.
But Mensah said Edwards’ alleged remarks were “further support that plaintiff’s age was the reason for his termination, not the lawsuit he filed years ago.”
The city settled with Caruso for $300,000 in 2017 after he claimed then-Chief Sam Dotson promoted Ronnie Robinson to lieutenant colonel instead of him because Robinson is Black.
He argued Robinson was less qualified than he was for the position.
Then Maj. Rochelle Jones also filed a lawsuit when Robinson was promoted, alleging she was not chosen for the position because of her gender. Her lawsuit went to trial and a jury found in the City’s favor. She has since been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and is currently the highest-ranking Black woman in the department.
