Police Captain Settles Out of Court in Suit Against County

By Evan Mix

Published on December 16, 2008

Matthew Jamison, a police captain in New Castle County, Delaware, has settled a federal lawsuit against New Castle County out of court for $77,200. The suit was originally filed in 2005. Jamison is a 20-year veteran on the New Castle County police force.

Jamison made allegations of various kinds of discrimination in the lawsuit, including that he was repeatedly and improperly passed over for promotion and that he was punished for speaking out against injustice in the department. Most seriously, Jamison alleged that he was disciplined for ordering a full investigation of a hit-and-run accident involving the son of local politician Sherry Freebery in 2001. The order was subsequently overruled, canceling the investigation.

Jamison's suit is not the first such suit against New Castle County. In February of 2007, former County Police Lieutenant Henry V. Tobin III settled a civil rights lawsuit against the county out of court for a similar amount of money. Tobin's suit made many of the same allegations as Jamison's.

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