DOJ files bias suit, names city of Marion.(NE Journal: A Look at News From Northeast Arkansas)

The U.S. government has filed a lawsuit against the city of Marion and charged it with race discrimination for not promoting a part-time police officer to full-time duties because he is black.

The lawsuit said that Stacy Allen, who is black, was a part-time patrol officer for the Marion Police Department between 2005 and 2007. When he asked to be promoted to full time, he was denied. But white officers were promoted, the lawsuit said.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated Allen's allegation and found "reasonable cause to believe that the allegations of race discrimination in employment were true, attempted unsuccessfully to achieve through conciliation a voluntary resolution of the matter, and subsequently referred the charge to the Department of Justice," the lawsuit said.

The U.S. Department of Justice is handling the lawsuit. It is seeking an unspecified amount of damages and for the city to adopt a written policy that prohibits race discrimination in its police department.

Marion's police chief wasn't available for comment on Thursday afternoon. Marion's mayor also was unavailable for comment.

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