LANSING — A high-ranking former officer at the Michigan State Police joined a chorus of criticism of the department’s top leadership on Monday, Dec. 8, accusing Col. James Grady in a lawsuit of unlawfully manipulating promotions to accelerate racial diversity.
Ryan Pennell, who retired from the MSP as a lieutenant colonel in June, sued Col. James Grady in federal court in Detroit, alleging Grady invoked a policy of “diversity by any means necessary” as he attempted to follow directions from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shape an agency where the racial and gender demographics would reflect those of Michigan as a whole.
Grady sought to carry out that mandate, and in doing so “has run roughshod over the rights of white MSP members,” Pennell alleged in the lawsuit, which also alleges Pennell was forced into retiring as a result of retaliation.
“Defendant Grady is bent on ‘diversifying’ the MSP overnight even though the relevant qualified workforce is inadequate to achieve this goal now or in the foreseeable future,” Pennell, who is represented by Ann Arbor attorney James Fett, said in the lawsuit.
Pennell is white. Grady is the MSP’s third Black director.
Spokepersons for Grady and Whitmer had no immediate comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
“Once served, we will review the suit and work with the AG’s Office to respond in court,” said Shanon Banner, a spokeswoman for the MSP and Grady.
A spokeswoman for Whitmer did not respond to a Dec. 8 text message seeking comment.
The lawsuit from Pennell, whose retirement rank of lieutenant colonel is the second-highest rank an MSP officer can achieve, is at least the fourth suit filed by current or former MSP officers, alleging unlawful promotion practices under Grady, since Whitmer named him MSP director in September 2023.
MSP promotion practices are also among the concerns of the Michigan State Police Troopers Association and the Michigan State Police Command Officers Association, whose members have overwhelmingly voted non-confidence in Grady and his number two, Lt. Col. Aimee Brimacombe.
Pennell alleges in the lawsuit that Grady has subverted the Michigan civil service rules related to promotions by: Informing leadership that he would hand pick his captains, rather than promote them through the normal interview process; holding a position open for a Black candidate; coercing an interview panel into promoting the lowest performing applicant so that he could promote a Black applicant to the vacancy created by a white lieutenant’s promotion; and creating vacancies for the sole purpose of filling them with Black personnel.
Pennell “made it clear to defendant Grady that he would not acquiesce in his illegal diversification efforts and insist on selection, not-preselection, of promotional candidates based on merit and in compliance with civil service rules,” the lawsuit alleges.
Pennell alleges he soon felt Grady’s “wrath,” and that Grady and Brimacombe “embarked on a campaign of retaliation aimed at forcing plaintiff to retire.”
Pennell, who is seeking unspecified monetary damages, alleges he “was segregated in the office, excluded from meetings, constantly second guessed, and publicly chastised.”
In October, the former chief diversity officer at the MSP sued the agency and Grady, alleging Grady decimated morale at the MSP by promoting officers without regard for their qualifications and “instigated and maintained a pattern of workplace harassment” that permeated the agency and adversely affected decision making.
Also in October, two MSP sergeants sued the department, alleging promotions at the MSP’s Flint post continued to be unlawfully manipulated, even after an exam-rigging scandal there ended several careers.
And in January, Inspector Patrick Morris filed a lawsuit, alleging he spent his entire 29-year career in the MSP’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, rising to the level of acting division commander, but as a white male was improperly denied promotion to commander in in favor of a Black candidate of lower rank and with no commercial enforcement experience.
The MSP has long been dominated by white males and increasing its diversity to more closely reflect Michigan’s population has long been a priority of Michigan governors, including Whitmer’s predecessor, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.
Pennell’s suit alleges that Grady’s predecessor, former Col. Joseph Gasper, who is white, was also instructed by Whitmer to diversify the MSP, but fell short. Grady “was directed to succeed where Gasper failed,” the suit alleges.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former senior MSP officer alleges retaliation over promotion protests
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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