$600,000 awarded to man involved in racial discrimination case
In 2017, Michael Fesser confided in his boss that he was facing racial discrimination at work. Then, his boss called in a personal favor to the local police department, asking them to arrest Fesser before he could sue the company.
Fesser — a 48-year-old black man who formerly worked for a towing company in Portland, Oregon — was awarded a $600,000 settlement this week for his wrongful arrest, the West Linn Police Department announced Tuesday. That's in addition to $415,000 paid to Fesser by his former boss and former company in 2018 for racial discrimination, The Oregonian reports.
According to court documents, West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus ordered two sergeants to build a case against Fesser in 2017, after he told his boss about the discrimination. The officers ultimately arrested and detained Fesser for allegedly stealing money from A&B Towing, his former employer.
"They started out by trying to assassinate my character," Fesser told CBS Portland, Oregon, affiliate KOIN-TV.
Timeus was allegedly doing a favor for Fesser's boss, Eric Benson, who believed Fesser planned to sue him for racial discrimination. According to court documents provided to CBS News by Fesser's lawyer, Fesser said employees at the company called him racist slurs and taunted him with a Confederate flag.
Fesser reportedly took legal action to ensure a situation like this does not happen to another black man, including his two teenage sons. He now volunteers at a local prison and runs an organization that helps men transition out of prison — and he said he's ready to move on from the incident.
"What's really going to help is if we come together as a community and their community also and we just move through this process so it doesn't happen again," he said. "This cannot happen. It has to stop."
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