The 576 Latino and black police officers of the NYPD whose claims were accepted in a landmark racial discrimination case have won, and between them will split the sum of $17 million:

Officers – 576 of them – will get awards ranging from $3,500 to $400,000 from the suit, which the city settled just over a year ago. The victims charged that the Police Department created a hostile work environment for black and Latino cops, especially when it came to disciplinary matters.

“Cops have their own disciplinary system. The penalty for black and Latino cops were disproportionately higher,” said Diane Paolicelli, an attorney with the firm that represented many of the plaintiffs.

Paolicelli said some cops lost pay, others were given bad assignments or even fired in the retaliatory climate.

She said awards, which varied based on the duration and scale of discrimination plaintiffs allegedly endured, will be sent out over the next month.

Yes, folks, racism exists even in fundamentally racist organizations like the police, and even in the “most liberal city in the nation”.

Via / NY Daily News