‘He Doomed Me’: Black Chief’s Push to Diversify Police Leadership Sparks White Backlash and $7.25M Verdict After Black Officer’s Promotion Was Withdrawn
A career Black officer in the Alexandria Police Department passed over for promotion in favor of white colleagues was awarded a “shocking” $7.25 million in compensatory damages by a jury who upheld his allegations of racial discrimination against the city.
The verdict appears to surpass the $300,000 statutory cap on compensatory damages in federal discrimination lawsuits and is now disputed by the parties, who U.S. District Court Judge Patricia T. Giles directed to submit post-trial briefs to address.
Plaintiff Delton Goodrum, who grew up in Alexandria, was hired by the police department in 1996, became its first Black motorcycle officer in 2004, and was promoted to lieutenant in 2014, after which he served as the Vice and Narcotics commander and then as SWAT team commander.
In the fall of 2020, he applied for one of two open positions of captain, along with eight other colleagues, his lawsuit says. The candidates were evaluated and ranked by a third-party consulting firm that looked at their work histories and performance on oral tactical and presentation exercises.
Goodrum ended up ranking third on the list of eligible candidates as of December 2020, and had a score that placed him among “Category I” candidates, whom department policy deems are to be given priority eligibility for appointments, the complaint says. The second-ranked candidate retired several months later, making Goodrum the highest-ranked candidate after then-Acting Captain Courtney Ballantine, who is white.
In June of 2021, Police Chief Michael Brown resigned and Don Hayes, his assistant police chief, who is Black, took over as acting chief of police.
In a meeting with all of the the department’s lieutenants, Hayes “announced that Lt. Goodrum would be the first to be advanced to the rank of captain to promote diversity” among those holding that rank, as all of the captains at that time were white, the complaint says. Hayes went on to say he “wanted the command staff to resemble the community in Alexandria,” Goodrum alleges.
This announcement reportedly caused great consternation among the officers present, and many of Goodrum’s white colleagues complained to Hayes that Lt. Goodrum would only be promoted because of his race, not due to merit or his qualifications, Goodrum alleges. Some of the candidates for the captain job filed formal grievances.
“I felt like he (Hayes) doomed me, because the other lieutenants were offended because all they heard was, “‘Chief Hayes is only promoting Black people or minorities,’” Goodrum told ALXnow.
As a result of the controversy, the department “backtracked” and did not fill the position in 2021, and extended the hiring process for captain to December 2022, the complaint says.
Goodrum received “outstanding” ratings in all 17 categories of his performance review in March of 2022, a document that was reviewed and “signed off on” by Chief Hayes, he claims. Despite this, Hayes “caved to the pressure of Lt. Goodrum’s white colleagues” and abruptly transferred him from the Training and Recruiting Section in the Human Resources Division to the Traffic and Safety Section in the Patrol Division, a position considered less desirable by officers.
In June 2022, Hayes (who was named Police Chief in April 2022) promoted Ballantine to the position of Captain, and then promoted Lt. Marcus Downey, a white officer junior to Goodrum, to the position of Acting Captain.
Downey wasn’t eligible for the role as he had not held the position of lieutenant for three years, and was not on the eligibility list of officers ranked by the consultant, the lawsuit says. Hayes subsequently rescinded Downey’s appointment to captain.
In October of 2022 Goodrum complained about what he saw as a pattern of discrimination against Black officers, as well as his unwanted transfer and non-promotion to his supervisor, Cpt. James Bridgeman, who referred his grievance to Hayes. Goodrum says he never received a formal response from Hayes.
Two months later, Hayes promoted another white lieutenant, Jerry Newcomb, to the position of captain, despite Newcomb scoring lower than Goodrum during the application process, making him a Category II candidate ranking eighth on the list of eligible candidates. Newcomb also reportedly received lower marks than Goodrum on his most recent performance evaluation.
The complaint notes that in December 2022 “a group of officers and sergeants of color” had approached Hayes about their concerns over lack of diversity in higher-level command positions, which were dominated by white men. The last Black person to be promoted to the role of captain within the Alexandria Police Department at that time was Hayes in July 2013, the lawsuit contends, and only three Black officers had been promoted to captain over more than three decades.
At the time of the promotional decision, Lt. Goodrum was the only Black officer who held the rank of lieutenant.
Goodrum argues that the city failed to promote him due to his race, and that the explanations offered by Hayes for not selecting him are pretextual.
Goodrum “bore substantially superior qualifications as compared to Newcomb, had an outstanding record of service and deep ties to the Alexandria community,” and was the preferred candidate for the job until “he found his career sidelined by Hayes, who insisted on making race — and specifically Lt. Goodrum’s race — a factor in his determination.”
The department and the city violated federal and state civil rights laws against discrimination and retaliation by treating Goodrum less favorably than his white co-workers and by repeatedly promoting white lieutenants to the position of captain while passing him over, despite his 28-year tenure with the department and his strong qualifications for the position, the lawsuit says.
Goodrum sought a jury trial to determine compensatory damages for his monetary losses, mental anguish, pain and suffering, as well as a promotion to captain, adjusted back pay and benefits, and all legal costs.
In the city’s court pleadings and during the four-day trial in May, Hayes, who retired from the department in 2024, denied that he ever said that Lt. Goodrum should be promoted because he is Black, and insisted that he said he would do so to improve “diversity,” a comment that was “misinterpreted” by some officers, who initially found it “racist” but later “understood what he meant and were not offended” after he met with them about it.
However, several white officers submitted affidavits and offered testimony stating that Hayes did say he would promote Goodrum “because he is Black,” which they found offensive.
Regarding the transfer of Goodrum to Traffic Safety, Hayes denied it was “an undesirable assignment” and said he did so because Goodrum was not meeting his expectations as a recruiter at a time when the department was understaffed. Hayes said he wanted to send about 30 recruits to the training academy and “didn’t see sufficient action from Goodrum toward that goal.”
Hayes thought Lt. Downey would do better in the role, and noted that Downey did later prove to be successful in bringing in qualified candidates.
Goodrum “did not have the kind of community policing experience even remotely on par” with Ballentine or the “experience in community involvement that Newcomb possessed,” Hayes asserted in a document supporting the city’s motion for summary judgment on Feb. 12.
Goodrum countered in an opposing memorandum on Feb. 26 that he had actually exceeded expectations as a recruiter, bringing in 29 recruits to the academy “despite the impact of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd on law enforcement recruitment nationwide.”
He cited his extensive history of community policing and community engagement, including participating in community walks, conducting “coffee with cops” events, organizing career days events at headquarters for local youth, serving as a motorcycle officer conducting community outreach, and conducting presentations for the Citizens Police Academy.
Hayes’s blunder in using “the prospect of Lt. Goodrum’s promotion as a lesson in diversity for his white colleagues” had cost Goodrum the opportunity for advancement he had earned, the memorandum says. “Having left himself no choice but to backtrack from his decision to promote Lt. Goodrum to captain, Hayes bulldozed through City policy intended to ensure fairness in promotions and selected a lesser qualified white candidate to fill the position instead.”
The jury strongly sided with Goodrum, finding in his favor and awarding $7.25 million in compensatory damages on May 9.
In her order issued on the same day, Judge Giles wrote that she had initially told the parties she would reduce the jury’s award and enter a judgment in compliance with the $300,000 statutory cap on compensatory damages after an oral motion by the defense, which the plaintiff had “conceded.” But upon further consideration, “the Court does not have the necessary information to determine the applicable statutory cap,” she wrote, and has thus “entered judgment as to liability in favor of Plaintiff in accordance with the verdict and directs the parties to file post-trial briefs regarding the statutory cap and other issues.”
Outside the courthouse, Goodrum said that he was overwhelmed with emotions, but was feeling closure.
“My story was heard,” Goodrum, who now works in the Alexandria PD’s investigation bureau as commander of the CSI and digital forensics lab, told ALXnow. “The stories of so many others at that department of the city were heard. The city has been put on notice. We will no longer suffer in silence. They say they value us, then start valuing your employees.”
Hayes, who testified for approximately five hours, was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
“Today’s verdict is disappointing and shocking, particularly in light of the $300,000 statutory cap which the judge has enforced,” City Attorney Cheran Ivery said. “It in no way reflects the City’s commitment to diversity in hiring and dedication to equality in the workplace. The City is considering all available options with post-trial motions up to and including an appeal.”
Josh Erlich and Katherine Herrmann, Goodrum’s attorneys, said that the jury determined Goodrum was not given a fair chance because of his race.
“I’m sure the defense is going to file motions, because they don’t think that this is legitimate, and that’s on them, that that’s fair for them to think,” Erlich said. “We obviously disagree.” He noted the judge “still needs to figure out how much back pay and front pay Lt. Goodrum is owed,” as well as attorneys’ fees and legal costs. “There may or may not be appeals, but we are not concerned about appeals.”