News Archive

Professor Carlton Waterhouse discussed a discrimination case involving a former Purdue University police sergeant for a news story broadcast on WXIN in Indianapolis on December 5.

The former officer claims he was targeted for dismissal because of his relationship with a black female officer in the police department. The fired sergeant is white, and he says he was investigated after he reported a possible case of weapon tampering against black officers. Instead of investigating that allegation, the former officer says his supervisors began an investigation into his personal life.

Professor Waterhouse noted that this kind of complaint isn’t the most common, but it isn’t new. Four United States Circuit Courts have determined that a person can be discriminated against because of a relationship with a person in a protected class, he noted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit has yet to recognize this kind of claim, Professor Waterhouse said.

Professor Waterhouse is a Dean’s Fellow and is director of the Environmental Energy and Natural Resources Law Program at IU McKinney. He is internationally recognized for his work on environmental justice and for his research and writing on reparations for historic injustices and state human rights violations.