Reverse racial discrimination lawsuits are piling up against the village of Hazel Crest.

Three former and one current Hazel Crest police officer have filed suits against the village and Mayor Robert Donaldson; its former police chief, Gary Jones; and village manager Robert Palmer.
All four plaintiffs, who are white, are claiming they were passed up for promotion by a less qualified black candidate.
Most recently filing racial discrimination charges against the village are former Hazel Crest police officer Michael Garofalo, and David Nelson, who is a sergeant on the Hazel Crest force. Both plaintiffs filed on July 7.
Two other former members of the Hazel Crest Police Department, Patrick Murray and Mark Peers, filed separate racial discrimination suits earlier this year.
At issue is the promotion of Malcolm White, a black officer on the Hazel Crest force, who was named in July 2005 as deputy chief of police, commander of support service division.
Each of the four lawsuits allege that White did not meet minimum experience or education qualifications for the position as stated in the village’s employee personnel manual.
According to the lawsuits, White, at the time of his promotion, had not served in a supervisory position. Also, the suit alleges, White did not have a college degree nor “substantial training in police work” at the time of his promotion…