Discrimination lawsuit by former officer settled
The city of Birmingham has entered into a settlement with a former officer in the police department who filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in January of 2024, claiming he was discriminated by the department due to his ethnicity, was repeatedly denied promotions due to his Palestinian background, and had racist names hurled at him by his supervisor, among other defamatory issues.
Yacoub Iseid began working for the Birmingham Police Department in January 2014, and in 2017 applied for a position with Oakland County's Narcotic Enforcement Task Force, led by sergeant Mike Lyon. Iseid, who is of Palestinian descent, alleges in the lawsuit that he was passed over “for a less qualified white officer named Seth Barone.” He then sought to improve himself, and was told he was passed over because he was a “fat rock.”
Lyon left the task force and became Iseid's supervisor, and he said Lyon “continually referred to Plaintiff as a 'terrorist,' 'a bomber,' making jokes about his ethnic background, and using the 'n word' in regular conversation.” Iseid alleges the department had a culture of racial animus, including but not limited to Arab individuals.
At one point Iseid was put on administrative leave and was recommended to begin therapy, which he did. Iseid claims miscommunication between his therapist and the department prevented his reinstatement; he was terminated in January 2021.
Iseid's attorneys, Eric Stempien and Lauren Gwinn of Stempien Law LLC in Livonia, claimed violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; of creating harassment-hostile work environment; and a violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, citing race and national original discrimination.
Stempien last year said they first filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office (EEOC) in 2019, where it “just sat there,” so they turned to the courts. Stempien said Iseid was not the only minority member on the force, but he was clearly targeted.
In October of last year a settlement conference was held and in December the judge assigned the case issued a settlement order, which reportedly included a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).
Birmingham City Attorney Mary Kucharek said the settlement included a payment of $22,500 to the plaintiff.
Kucharek said that the determination was made that a settlement agreement rather than a costly legal skirmish in terms of both time and expense was preferable to “wasting city money” on a protracted legal battle.