Sergeant Keith Wildhaber had over fifteen years of experience at the St. Louis County Police Department when he sought a promotion in 2014. He wanted to become a lieutenant, to be afforded the symbolic affirmation of wearing a coveted white shirt to work. He even had reason to believe he might be successful. According to the St Louis County Police Department’s internal testing, Wildhaber had allegedly been ranked third out of 26 candidates up for promotion during the 2014 application period.
Wildhaber didn’t get the job. In fact, according to a lawsuit filed last month, the sergeant would be considered and denied promotion on 22 other occasions. It wasn’t until a routine patrol check at a local restaurant that Wildhaber would find out why.
“‘The command staff has a problem with your sexuality,’” said John Sacarino, then a board member of the department, according to a January 10 lawsuit filed in St. Louis County. “If you ever want to see a white shirt, you should tone down your gayness,” he allegedly told Wildhaber.
“I think I [responded], ‘I can’t believe we are having this conversation in 2014.’ It was devastating to hear,” Wildhaber testified. (Sacarino declined having such a conversation.)
The department’s alleged homophobia didn’t end with Sacarino’s admission. According to Wildhaber’s suit, which claimed he had been discriminated against because of his sexuality, the officer’s captain, Guy Means, once called his subordinate “fruity,” adding that he was “way too out there with his gayness and he needed to tone it down” to be promoted.
The suit reached its conclusion on October 25 when the jury sided with the cop, awarding him nearly $20 million — a decision meant to “send a message,” according to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “If you discriminate, you are going to pay a big price…You can’t defend the indefensible,” the jury foreman told the paper.
The St. Louis department appears to be taking the jury’s judgement to heart. Two days after the October 25 verdict, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced imminent, sweeping personnel changes to the department’s governing board, which is responsible for monitoring the police chief. “The time for leadership changes has come and change must start at the top,” Page said in a statement. “We will begin with appointing new members to the police board.”
Wildhaber’s attorneys lauded their client for his patience and capacity to embolden other LGBTQ+ employees to fight back against discrimination. “This has been a long and difficult road for Keith,” the attorneys said. “His bravery and courage in standing up for what is right should be an inspiration for employees everywhere.”
Unfortunately, Wildhaber’s experience is far from uncommon. Roughly a quarter of LGBTQ+ workers reported experiencing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year, according to The Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advocacy platform. This discrimination is often felt most acutely by trans folks; according to National Center for Transgender Equality, a nonprofit social equality organization, over 25% trans workers reported being fired, not hired, or not promoted because of how they looked and/or how they identified. Of course, race also influences a workers’ likelihood of experiencing discrimination. In fact, a study conducted by National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The Harvard School of Public Health found that LGBTQ+ people of color are at least twice as likely as white LGBTQ+ people to say they have been personally discriminated against when applying for jobs — a fact that underscores the various levels of privilege at play when someone like Sgt. Wildhaber, a white cisgender gay police officer, is able to translate statiscally commonplace discrimination into such a remarkable legal (and financial) result.
Wildhaber’s case also draws attention to the fact that, at present, only 21 states (including Washington D.C.) explicitly prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Missouri, where Wildhaber’s case was heard, is not one of them. That said, Wildhaber’s case was likely aided by a February Missouri Supreme Court ruling that, while not explicitly banning anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, allowed LGBTQ+ Missourians to bring charges of employment discrimination based on sex stereotyping.
These considerations, of course, are not unique to Missouri. The United States Supreme Court is currently in the process of hearing three cases that have the potential to make anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination illegal at the federal level (or not). You can read more of our coverage of these historic cases here.
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