Chauvin received special treatment from White officer, minority officers blocked from guarding him: lawsuit

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Eight correctional officers at a Minnesota jail filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Tuesday alleging that they were "segregated and prevented" from guarding former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, an inmate facing charges in the death of George Floyd. 

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The correctional officers claim that they "went to work expecting to do their jobs just as they had every day," when Chauvin was remanded to prison at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center, but were told by Superintendent Steve Lydon "that all correctional officers of color, including Plaintiffs, were prohibited from interacting with or guarding Chauvin, or going anywhere on the 5th floor, where Chauvin was held," according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Fox News.  

The officers said they believe they were blocked from attending to Chauvin because Lydon thought the minority officers "could not be trusted to professionally perform their responsibilities."

Chauvin is accused of kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest in May and has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd's death ignited hundreds of protests throughout the country last summer, as people marched against police brutality. The heightened climate of racial tensions resulted in numerous clashes between police and demonstrators as mistrust between law enforcement and minority communities continued to fester. 

The jail's officers said they were also stopped from responding to an emergency call of the fifth floor in a separate incident until "white officers arrived because the protocol required officers to go the 5th floor," the suit, filed in a Minnesota District Court, said. 

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The defendants argued that they weren't allowed to adequately do their jobs because "of their race and the color of their skin," and that Lydon’s "blatant discrimination broke the trust between employees and management." 

The lawsuit said the officers were "extremely upset and offended" by the way they were being treated, with one officer saying he was replaced by a White officer in the middle of patting down Chauvin when he arrived at the jail. 

Two officers also allege they witnessed on surveillance from within the jail a White lieutenant giving Chauvin preferential treatment, including entering his cell, sitting on his bed, attempting to "comfort him" by patting his back, and allowing him to use a cell phone. 

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The plaintiffs in the case also allege that Chauvin wasn't the only inmate that had caused them to be reassigned due to issues of race. One officer said he and two other minority officers were reassigned due to another inmate's "racist attitude," on a different occasion. 

The officers said the incidents contributed to an overall hostile work enviornment.