Southampton Village to pay $600G to Black police officer, settling discrimination lawsuit

Southampton Village will pay a $600,000 lump sum and front pay going forward to a police officer, settling a federal lawsuit in which the officer said he faced discrimination and was denied a promotion because he is Black.

Police Officer Kareem Proctor will receive a $600,000 payment, inclusive of attorneys' costs, for "claims of pain and suffering," according to the settlement, which was obtained by Newsday from the village through the state's Freedom of Information Law.

Proctor will also receive front pay each year he remains employed by the village, in addition to his salary as an officer. Front pay is an "equitable remedy" recognized by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to make victims of discrimination whole.

Proctor will receive $10,000.87 of front pay this year. The amount will increase each year, reaching $16,529.92 in 2043, according to the settlement. He continues to work as a village police officer. 

"I'm happy to acknowledge that the village has seen fit to settle this matter, which is longstanding and has served as a major concern for one of Southampton's dedicated public servants," Frederick K. Brewington, Proctor's Hempstead-based attorney, said in an interview.

He added that Proctor "is relieved that this lawsuit that he was compelled to bring to seek some quantum of justice is now behind him."

The 2021 lawsuit said Proctor, one of three Black employees in the department at the time, was promised by former Village Police Chief Tom Cummings that he would be promoted to detective after serving 18 months on the Suffolk District Attorney’s East End Drug Task Force. But Proctor was removed from the task force one day before he would be due the promotion under the state's Civil Service law, according to court filings.

Proctor, 47, of Flanders, was hired by the department in 2008. The lawsuit said he suffered civil rights violations, lost wages and other adverse impacts. He sought damages of $30 million, Newsday previously reported.

Mayor Bill Manger Jr. signed the settlement Thursday after it was unanimously approved by the village's board of trustees. Proctor signed the agreement on Aug. 25, and Cummings, who was also named in the lawsuit, signed it Wednesday.

Manger did not immediately return a request for comment.

"The case never should have been brought against Cummings and we're happy that it resolved amicably," said Brian Sokoloff, Cummings' Carle Place-based attorney.

The lawsuit alleged that six white officers who were assigned to the task force since Proctor joined the department were promoted to detective, while he was denied the same. Cummings said he intended to give Proctor the promotion, but he was told the village didn’t have the money for it, according to a state Human Rights Division investigative report.

The state Human Rights Division found in its 2021 report that there was probable cause to believe the department engaged in unlawful discrimination against Proctor, Newsday has reported.

Cummings was asked to remove Proctor from the task force after learning he had family members who were the subjects of a drug task force investigation, he said during a conference with the Human Rights Division, Newsday previously reported.

Proctor said he had already disclosed those activities to the village. The lawsuit releases the village and Cummings of all of Proctor's claims. The village maintains that it has not violated any laws.