Greenwich unlawfully discriminated against five of the eight African-American and Latino police officers who sued the town three years ago, a federal jury ruled this week in a closely watched case.
Those five will share damage awards totaling $157,000, assuming the town does not appeal. A lawyer for the town said that decision had not yet been made.
Yosif Bakhit was a black Muslim Sudanese immigrant who was granted political asylum in the United States after he fled his native country, Sudan. Bakhit was a high school student who had been arrested and beaten several times as a result of his political opposition to the ongoing civil war in the Sudan. He came to the United States in 2000. When he came to the United States, he spoke very little English and had no money. He was homeless for a period of time. He got a job, learned English and ended up in Bridgeport Connecticut. Yosif became a United States citizen in 2011.