A federal lawsuit by former Lafayette Police Chief Thomas Glover over his 2021 firing was dismissed Monday.
Glover, who is Black, sued Lafayette Consolidated Government and former Mayor-President Josh Guillory in February 2023 for his dismissal after about 10 months on the job.
He alleged he was fired due to his race.
Appointed chief by Guillory on Dec. 31, 2020, Glover was fired Oct. 7, 2021, with LCG leaders citing a loss of confidence in Glover's leadership after he allegedly made misrepresentations to a city councilman and to the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.
Glover filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and filed the federal lawsuit on Feb. 28, 2023.
On April 6, the defendants filed a motion seeking dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice. Federal judge David Joseph, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette, issued a summary judgment Monday dismissing the lawsuit.
"We are pleased with the court's comprehensive and well reasoned ruling that, based on the law and evidence, race played no role in the termination of Mr. Glover's appointment as Chief of Police," City-Parish Attorney Pat Ottinger said in an email response to a request for comment.
Glover's attorney, J. Arthur Smith III, said he is recommending Glover appeal Joseph's decision.
"I think Chief Glover was denied his right to a trial by jury," Smith said.
In explaining his ruling, Joseph wrote that Guillory, sued in his personal capacity, was not serving as Glover's employer. Regarding Guillory's official capacity as mayor-president, Joseph wrote that Glover cannot sue a corporation and its agent because the corporation would be held liable twice for the same action.
Further, Joseph wrote, a plaintiff must show that an unconstitutional policy or established custom exists that deprives the employee of his rights. In this case, he wrote, Glover offered "no evidence of a pattern of similar instances in which other individuals were injured.”
Regarding the alleged civil rights violation, Joseph writes of a four-prong test to qualify, which Glover's case fails to meet: that he was replaced by someone outside his protected class or race. He was immediately replaced by Wayne Griffin, who also is Black, as interim police chief. Griffin was replaced by Judith Estorge, a white woman.
Glover could not immediately be reached for comment on this story.