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An Indian-origin former policeman has sued his erstwhile employer for discrimination based on race, color, and national origin.

Suresh Madhavan, a resident of New Jersey joined the police force in 2003 and worked until 2016 when he was dismissed from the job. In his lawsuit against the Wall Township Police Department, he claimed that he was on a regular basis subjected to discrimination based on his skin color and place of origin while his colleagues would pass racist remarks which led to an aggressive work environment.

Madhavan was fired following an internal probe related to a sex tape in which Madhavan was accused of lying. He allegedly made a sex tape of his senior who used to bring a mistress to Madhavan's house. Madhavan has claimed that he deleted the video. The lawsuit claimed that the superior officer pressurized the plaintiff (Madhavan) to let him use his home for his extramarital affair.

Madhavan has further noted that the department was a hundred percent white/Caucasian when he was employed in 2003 and only in 2012 did the department start hiring minority people.

According to the lawsuit, Madhavan was frequently subject to racially derogatory remarks, referring to him as Benson which is an Afro-American character from television, using the word nigger and ethnic references saying how Madhavan likes "chicken" and "watermelon." Furthermore, he claimed that despite having experience, he was passed over for a promotion and a white officer promoted in his place.

The lawsuit further claimed that the department nurtured an environment where the superintendent could ill-treat the position of his power to harass the subordinate officers. Madhavan claimed that the department had a set of terms like negro, animals, spooks, monkey, etc. when referring to the black community.

Further, he stated that a concealed video was placed which recorded Madhavan and other officers in awkward positions.

Madhavan's lawsuit was accompanied by another officer who filed a separate lawsuit against the department.

Communications Supervisor Nicholas Curcio, presently on unpaid leave, filed a lawsuit where he sued the department for nurturing a racially discriminated environment. He claimed he was frequently called "half-black" and said, "you look like a black guy by his colleagues who made fun of his type I Diabetes which resulted in discoloration of his legs.

In response to the lawsuits, Jeff Bertrand, Wall Township Administrator, told Asbury Park Press, "Wall Township takes every one of these allegations very seriously. We were not aware of the amended complaint …. when we received a call from the media, but we are reviewing the document."

-Sowmya Sangam