Judge: Workplace Racism Didn't Disable Retired Trooper

January 12, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A retired state trooper now jailed on sexual assault charges lost one legal battle Wednesday in his effort to bump up his pension benefits by asserting that he was actually disabled by workplace racism.

A state appellate court Wednesday upheld an administrative law judge’s decision that Glynn Moore, a 15-year trooper veteran, was not entitled to an accidental disability pension, Gannett News Service reported. Moore was seeking a higher pension because he claimed repeated exposure to racism within the State Police caused him to be mentally and physically unfit for duty.

The court did rule that the “application of an external physical force may be found to constitute a ‘traumatic event.'”

Though Moore had testified of several racist incidents by troopers toward him and black citizens while on the job, the court said that he could not prove any directly impacted his condition.

The appellate decision noted that public employees subjected to racial harassment can seek damages. Moore was among 13 troopers who sued the state police alleging racial discrimination who later shared an undisclosed settlement.

Moore stands accused of the sexual assault of a 10-year-old Camden County girl in July 2004.

«