Alfred Montgomery is no longer the sheriff of the City of St. Louis, but the cost of his 11-month tenure continues to climb. Another lawsuit was filed yesterday.
Former deputy Donald Hawkins filed an employment discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday against the sheriff’s office. He claims that in December 2024, before Montgomery had officially taken office, the sheriff-elect fired him for being Black. At the time, Montgomery was facing criticism for clearing house of high-ranking deputies, many of whom were white. According to Hawkins’ lawsuit, Montgomery told Hawkins that he was being sued for discrimination against white employees and therefore needed to fire a Black employee.
“He told him he needed to fire a Black guy because he was getting so much heat for firing a bunch of white people. That is literally what he said,” says Brandy Barth, Hawkins’ attorney…