Three Panola County state troopers are among seven statewide who claim in a federal lawsuit that they were punished because most of them were white.

Tim L. Douglas, Bryan Sullivant and Michael Shane Phelps, all of Panola County are among the seven suspended and filing suit following charges for allegedly cheating on promotion tests and are claiming in a federal lawsuit that they were told they had to be punished because most of them were white.

All seven are also appealing their suspensions to the state Personnel Board with a hearing set for March 5. Attorneys for DPS have asked for a continuance.

The federal suit alleges their commander told troopers they were being punished because disciplining “Caucasians was necessary as evidence to refute any charge of racial discrimination by African American state troopers.”

According to a Jerry Mitchell story in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger February 24, in February 2009, the NAACP filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Mississippi’s 200 black troopers, alleging unfair treatment in promotions to officer positions.

Six months later, the EEOC said it found evidence of discrimination and forwarded its findings to the Justice Department, which has been investigating the allegations.

The lawsuit alleges that a trooper currently serving on Governor Phil Bryant’s security team was never questioned or punished.

The troopers are seeking to lift their suspensions, return back pay, titles, positions and privileges in filings with the state Personnel Board and similar relief in federal court as well as damages, saying DPS officials violated their constitutional rights to due process in their federal lawsuit.

Department of Public Safety officials would not comment on pending litigation according to the Clarion Ledger story which went on to explain in their federal lawsuit, the seven troopers allege that plaintiffs had used a file of actual questions in past tests and other study questions “with full knowledge of (Public Safety officials),” noting that such questions had been openly utilized by state troopers studying for promotion examinations since 1997.

The lawsuit contends officials were wrong to suspend troopers because there is no general order, policy or procedure barring study notes or sharing study material among troopers.

(Much of the information for this story was obtained from Jerry Mitchell’s Clarion Ledger story published February 24, 2012.)