LANSING — A federal judge has dismissed claims from a former Michigan State Police inspector that he was denied a promotion because he is white.
Inspector Patrick Morris, who has since retired, sued the MSP in 2025 after he was turned down for a promotion to captain in charge of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, where he spent his entire 29-year MSP career.
Morris alleged that Col. James Grady, the MSP director, gave the job to a less-qualified Black candidate in 2024 as part of a "radical" diversity, equity and inclusion plan. The Morris lawsuit is one of several MSP lawsuits alleging that Grady has used unlawful methods to try to diversify the upper ranks of the MSP.
But U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering, a federal judge in Grand
Rapids, said in a Sept. 29 opinion that both Morris and Keyonn Whitfield, a Black 1st lieutenant who had 25 years with the MSP, were qualified for the promotion to captain. Whitfield was rated higher by a panel composed of Grady, who is Black, and two other senior MSP officers who interviewed both candidates, and the record shows "race was neither discussed nor considered," the judge wrote.
Morris failed to show he was the clearly superior candidate or that nondiscriminatory reasons the MSP gave for choosing Whitfield were a pretext to shield racial discrimination, the judge ruled. Though other white former officers testified that Grady showed a pattern or practice of racially discriminatory promotion decisions, Beckering said that evidence was of limited value because Morris did not show that those officers reviewed the materials both candidates submitted with their applications, were familiar with the five competency areas the panel considered, or were present for the interviews and had personal knowledge of how each candidate performed.
James Fett, an Ann Arbor attorney representing Morris, said in a Sept. 30 email he will appeal the ruling to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The dismissal will further embolden Grady as he continues to promote based on race," Fett said.
The MSP did not immediately respond to a Sept. 30 email seeking comment.
On Sept. 11, Fett wrote Harmeet Dhillon, head of the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting an urgent investigation into what he alleges are race-based hiring and promotion practices at the MSP.
The DOJ told WDIV-TV (Channel 4) on Sept. 15 that Fett's letter is under review.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge dismisses race claims from white MSP inspector denied promotion
