United States Seventh Circuit

Judgment for plaintiffs in a suit by police officers under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. sections 1981 and 1983 alleging discriminatory promotion practices favoring women and minorities is affirmed over defendants' arguments that: 1) they are entitled to qualified immunity, insofar as their actions were not in violation of a clearly established constitutional right of the plaintiffs; and 2) municipal liability is inappropriate under the circumstances. The award of damages is reversed where the district court incorrectly calculated compensatory damages and failed to adequately instruct the jury that each individual defendant's actions and fault must serve as the basis for fashioning an appropriate punitive damages award.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/18/2007
• Published 01/18/2007

Judges

• RIPPLE, Circuit Judge., Before POSNER, FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• William R. Rettko (argued), Rettko Law Offices, Brookfield, WI, for Plaintiffs-Appellees., Miriam Horwitz (argued), Milwaukee City Attorney's Office, Milwaukee, WI, for Defendants-Appellants.