A Bowling Green Police Department officer alleges in a lawsuit that he was retaliated against after filing complaints reporting acts of racial discrimination.

Officer Matthew Irvin filed the lawsuit June 4 in Warren Circuit Court, naming as defendants BGPD Chief Michael Delaney, Capt. Jonathan Vickous, Capt. Geoff Gleitz and Capt. Mike Elliott.

The nine-page complaint alleges retaliation and race discrimination in violation of the state’s Civil Rights Act, with Irvin claiming that his prior complaints of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “were a substantial motivating factor” leading to his demotion from detective to patrol officer in November.

Irvin, who is Black, alleges that his race also factored into the BGPD’s decision to demote him.

“Throughout (Irvin’s) employment, defendants issued (Irvin) more frequent discipline for trivial matters and engaged in unwarranted criticism of plaintiff’s work more so than those of comparably suited white employees, and defendants took every opportunity to make plaintiff’s life as an employee unpleasant,” attorney Joseph Gaines, who represents Irvin, said in the lawsuit.

Gaines did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The lawsuit said that Irvin reported what the lawsuit describes as “overtly discriminatory conduct by white co-workers” to Delaney, who is also Black, in October 2020, and that Delaney took no action.

Irvin alleges he witnessed co-workers in August 2020 sharing mugshots of Black inmates, making fun of their names and “making comments about how they are so black and that ‘they are sweating grease.’ ”

He also alleges that a co-worker posed as a KKK member in the workplace in May 2020 and that a city official questioned whether he would be a good fit as a detective upon his promotion in 2019 because of his personality and that the fact that “they haven’t had a Black detective in 20 years,” the lawsuit said.

Irvin filed an EEOC complaint after his brother and other officers were sent messages about “selling slaves at Walmart” around November 2020, according to the lawsuit.

“Matthew states that retaliation escalated once the EEOC investigation began,” Gaines said in the lawsuit.

Irvin claims that he reported the behavior to the city’s human resources department in 2021 and received poor performance evaluations afterward, leading to a June 2021 meeting with human resources that resulted in him being put on a performance improvement plan.

Irvin reportedly submitted a resignation letter that the BGPD refused to accept.

In November 2022, Irvin learned he would be transferred from criminal investigations to patrol, prompting him to file a second EEOC complaint.

The lawsuit said that the EEOC issued a letter of determination “finding reasonable cause that plaintiff was subject to harassment because of race.”

“This letter also found there was evidence that (Irvin) was disciplined and retaliated against for opposing this discrimination,” the lawsuit said.

Irvin alleges he participated in mediation with city officials that led to the department agreeing to correct his performance evaluations and offering him $5,000, and then $10,000, but no transfer back to detective, and Irvin refused the cash settlements.

A back injury led to Irvin being placed on modified duty in December, limiting him to clerical duties.

While on modified duty, Irvin alleges that he was disciplined and subject to restrictions that white officers in similar circumstances did not receive.

Specifically, Irvin claims that Gleitz did not allow him to return to full duty without restrictions last month unless Irvin presented for return to duty training, despite a doctor’s clearance, when Gleitz was allowed to participate in a SWAT operation while on modified duty last year and wearing a cast on his arm.

Irvin also claims that Elliott informed him last month that he needed to pass a Critical Response Team qualification before being deployed again, while a white officer was allowed to be deployed with the department’s Critical Response Team without having to take the qualification exam.

Attorney Tom Kerrick, representing Delaney and the three BGPD captains, disputes Irvin’s allegations and says the defendants are in a strong position to prevail in court.

“Most cases, I would say we have no comment, however I do think some of the statements in the complaint are not accurate, and we’ll prove they’re not accurate,” Kerrick said.

Ryan Dearbone, president of the Bowling Green-Warren County NAACP chapter, has been informed of the lawsuit as well.

“The Bowling Green-Warren County NAACP is aware of the lawsuit against Chief Delaney and the three captains with the BGPD,” Dearbone said in an e-mail. “I have personally spoken with Chief Delaney regarding the allegations. Our branch stands in support of the police department and Chief Delaney in this matter but will continue to monitor the case closely.”

As a detective, Irvin came under scrutiny while acting as the lead investigator in a 2020 homicide case in which Kevin Morris was shot and killed outside Campus Pointe Apartments.

Pedro Alfaro was arrested on a murder charge, though a jury would later acquit him after Alfaro claimed to have acted in self-defense.

During the investigation, Irvin interviewed a witness, Ethan Houchens, who told him that he and Morris had planned to rob Alfaro on the night of the shooting after Alfaro gave the two a ride to the apartment complex.

Irvin failed to disclose that information when he testified during a 2020 preliminary hearing in which the case was referred to a grand jury.

At Alfaro’s trial earlier this year, Irvin testified that he lacked the information to bring robbery charges against Houchens and said Houchens was not trustworthy during his police interview.

Irvin also referred to the fight between Alfaro and Houchens and Morris just before the shooting as a physical altercation instead of an attempted robbery, testifying at trial that he could not state for sure that what happened in the car was in fact a robbery due to Houchens’ unreliability under police questioning.