In their lawsuit, the police claim that the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center has prohibited them from “interacting or watching over Chauvin”, who is white, “or from going anywhere” on the floor where he was being held. That order was given by the detention center superintendent, Steve Lydon, says the lawsuit.
“Lydon refused to allow Claimants to complete their professional responsibilities because of their race and skin color,” the suit says. “The transfer of plaintiffs and Lydon’s blatant discrimination have broken trust between employees and management.”
The lawsuit says that “after some time,” Lydon met with the affected prison officers and “denied being racist and defended his decision,” but said he changed his mind about the order.
In a statement after the initial charges of discrimination, Lydon expressed regret at his decision to briefly ban police in those areas.
“Recognizing that the George Floyd murder was likely to create particularly acute racialized trauma, I felt that I had an immediate duty to protect and support employees who may have been traumatized and may have aggravated the ongoing trauma of having to deal with Chauvin,” he said. Lydon at the moment.
“Out of care and concern, and without the comfort of time, I made the decision to limit exposure to colored officials to a murder suspect who could exacerbate those feelings.”
Lydon said at the time that he reversed his decision within the hour.
“I then met with the individuals who were working at the time and explained to them what my thinking process was at the time and assured them that the decision was made out of concern for them and was in no way related to a concern for their Chauvin’s professionalism or security, “he added. “I realized that I had made an error of judgment and I apologized to the affected officials.”
CNN contacted Ramsey and Lydon County officials about the new civil suit, but received no response.