By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Melvindale Police Officer Hassan Hammoud, a Lebanese immigrant and a Muslim, filed a discrimination and harassment lawsuit May 27 against the Police Department and the city.
He has been on administrative leave since Jan. 15 due to mental health issues caused by what he characterized as intolerable working conditions.
Hammoud alleges that crosses and Bibles were left in his locker, despite it being known that he was a practicing Muslim.
He alleges that that police officers in the department referred to African American women using a highly offensive ethnic slur which combines “she” and “baboon,” and used the phrase “04” as code when discussing harassing members of the African-American community while on patrol.
Hammoud says in the lawsuit that the phrase “going hunting” was used internally when discussing patrolling the border between Detroit and Melvindale with respect to targeting African-American people for “investigations.”
He alleges that after complaining about conditions, a job application for a pizzeria was left in his locker to encourage him to leave the department.
Hammoud says in the lawsuit that the environment within the Police Department discouraged him from reporting issues of racism, discrimination and harassment out of fear of retaliation.
After immigrating to the United States from Lebanon in 1995, Hammoud began working with the Melvindale Police Department in March 2021, and he rose to the rank of corporal. He was the first Arabic officer within the department.
Hammoud alleges that when a fellow officer subjected him to racial harassment in June 2021, then Sgt. Robert Kennaley failed to take action.
Kennaley is currently the police chief, but is undergoing cancer treatment, with Deputy Police Chief Nick Martinez fulfilling his duties in his absence.
Hammoud alleges that when he complained to Kennaley about another officer’s hate speech in 2023, Kennaley again took no action. He also alleges that in late 2024, Kennaley told him to stop writing reports about his fellow officers.
Hammoud was on leave from Oct. 11, 2024 to Dec. 8, 2024 due to stress from the alleged ongoing harassment and disparate treatment.
The lawsuit alleges that that in early January a petition circulated among Hammoud’s fellow officers to terminate his employment. He went on short-term leave again on Jan. 15 due to the stress he was experiencing.
The lawsuit contends that the hostile work environment is also a violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which occurred with respect to the unwelcome conduct due to his race and religion.
Neither Kennaley nor Martinez responded to an initial request for comment by press time.