An Alachua County jury awarded Sergeant Kevin Davis $15 million in damages on Friday in a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).
The six-member jury found that the ACSO under former Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. failed to promote Davis, who is white, because of his race and then retaliated against Davis for filing formal complaints about the discrimination.
The jury, appearing all white, sided with Davis on all counts and awarded $115,724 for past salary due Davis if he’d been promoted. The $15 million came for emotional pain and mental anguish. The award amount was significantly more than the $3 million to $8 million that Davis requested.
Attorney Bobi Frank said the amount serves to make a statement of the case.
Jury selection and opening arguments took place Monday. The plaintiff then presented on Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday, resting its case before 3 p.m. on Thursday. The defendant called witnesses and rested after about three hours on Thursday.
Closing arguments came Friday followed by jury deliberation, lasting just under two hours before presenting the verdict.
The case proved emotional with testimonies from many current and former members of the sheriff’s office, including current Sheriff Chad Scott, former Sheriff Emery Gainey, and Watson.
On the stand, Watson said the trial had clouded not only his administration but himself as a person. He highlighted the close relationships that he had with white city managers and all his groomsmen.
Davis took the stand Thursday and spoke about how difficult it is to go to work and do the job he’s trained for and dedicated to. He spoke to the emotional toll and said his command staff failed to listen three years ago when he first filed the internal complaints.
Davis began working for ACSO in 1999 and returned permanently in 2004 after attending the University of North Florida.
In closing arguments, Davis’s lawyers said Watson lied under oath after he contradicted the statement of another witness, George Corwine. Corwine testified Tuesday that he recommended Davis for promotion, but Watson said that never happened or that he had no memory of it, according to WCJB.
Davis’s lawyers, Frank and Tiffany Cruz, said testimony would show that Undersheriff Joel DeCoursey, who is Black, said that Watson was elected to make the ACSO look more like him. They highlighted six changes in command staff toward Black personnel.
ACSO attorneys emphasized that sheriffs can have different management styles and weigh promotional factors differently. He said Watson favored in-person interviews with sergeants in line for promotion—something Davis refused to partake in, attorneys said.
Attorney Wayne Evans said Davis had assumed that he was discriminated against because he didn’t get promotions and pointed out that white employees were promoted under Watson.
But Frank and Cruz argued that future promotions selected less qualified white candidates as retaliation against Davis and to conceal discrimination.
The initial complaints filed internally by Davis happened in early 2022. Since then, Frank also represented Davis and two other ACSO employees in a lawsuit that the sheriff’s office failed to follow policy in their investigations into the three employees.
Watson dropped all investigations against the employees after a judge sided in their favor.
ACSO will have an opportunity to appeal the decision.
Kevin is a solid dude, worked with him at the jail, where he got a solid start. He was/is right. Not that it will fix anything. Chad will just hide it better. The whole agency is filled to the brim with DEI supervisors and do-boys.
There is the DEI word… all you MaGAs just trip over yourselves using the same language Trump uses. You all think the every nook and cranny of this country should be ran by “White Caucasians” . You might even ask yourselves … why would God create brown and black people? We’ll guess Bubba, if God didn’t create them, who did? And of God created them they are a child of God just like the Caucasians. And they deserve respect, they deserve equality. They are smart like the white skinned counterparts. They deserve to make a living whether y’all like it or not. Some have yo work two-three times harder because the color is their skin, unlike your buddy who just went to court and walked out a millionaire. Your time would be a whole lot different if he was black.
Say alot about you when you use DEI as an excuse. As if white America is under threat from unemployment or something.
Gaineville is DEI land
It’s interesting how quiet the usual crowd is when a white man wins a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a Black man. Where’s the outrage? Where are the usual comments about frivolous lawsuits or people taking advantage of the system? Oh, that’s right—because the plaintiff is white, his claims are automatically credible. No skepticism, no accusations of dishonesty, no uproar about the city being sued.
The silence speaks volumes. If the roles were reversed, there would be an outpouring of outrage, skepticism, and endless debates. But in this case, the verdict is conveniently accepted without question. It’s just another example of the double standards at play in this country.
I am white and incensed by the amount of money awarded someone for not getting a simple promotion.
You can stop with your racist b.s.
Yes Clovis is and was corrupt as hell, but the $15 million penalty coming from tax payer’s pockets? INSANE
It is covered by the insurance ACSO has. The decision was justified. He deserved every penney.
There’s no justification for an award that’s many times more than his entire lifetime earnings.
My guess is . . . ACSO will have to dig into their Reserves to pay this 15 MIL.
Agreed. Let’s see if all black employees who have been overlooked over the years start to file lawsuits too. I hope they do. This site’s readers are right-wing trailer trash.
Do I sense a bit of white guilt coming from you Georgie boy? In any case – welcome to our “trailer park”. Glad you subscribe.
I agree with you..but remember as you stated.. there’s a double standard. It’s just that people of color has been dealing with this for decades. I do question the 15m awarded. I don’t think a person of color would have gotten a fifteen million settlement in this particular case. Just my opinion..
The situation has shifted significantly, my friend. I would like to clarify that I am white. Historically, Black individuals have endured judgment and persecution for centuries. Therefore, it is not surprising that a white person has achieved success. Regrettably, there are still individuals who harbor animosity towards minority communities. There is a considerable distance to cover in addressing the injustices of the past, which helps to explain the resentment felt by some Black individuals. This is not a true victory; it revolves around financial gain.
Thank you, I 1000% agree. Oddly convenient how justified this case is, decided by an all white jury of course, but the real kicker for me was that he originally requested a little over 100k that would’ve been actual monetary loss from the work missed, but somehow not getting promoted resulted in $8 million in emotional damage?!? And he went on the be awarded almost double that at $15 million??? I’m completely at a loss as to how this is justified, not to mention where is this money coming from, if it’s tax dollars I’m sick to my stomach.
An all white jury+A white woman presenting + a board plastered with Black people in leadership positions = an award of 15m
Yes that black privilege. I’m sure you wake up everyday wishing to be black and afforded all the benefits that come with it.
#whiteprivileged
Please
The jury appearing all white….
This whole situation typifies the delusional woke mind set that exists in Gainesville
Davis did right.
Jury seen &heard evidence 🙄.
Rules are Rules guidelines are boundaries.
Courts and juries are for judging.
Being a victim
of any form
Results in :
(( my first thoughts are you are a ))
Davis won . Period. Hallelujah 🙏🏼.
It’s called rule of law
This article was poorly written and choppy. At first I thought it was AI until I scrolled to end and saw human. It took me a couple of moments to figure out the parties involved and the civil issue. Thank goodness for the photos.
“He said Watson favored in-person interviews with sergeants in line for promotion—something Davis refused to partake in, attorneys said. “ homie refused to be a man and go to an interview and then pulled this crap to get our tax money. What the hell
Next, SBAC… The Big house of Discrimination, retaliation, a lot of lazy a$xsx… Who’s paying our children?. Only a few from their Mafia crew gain good money! While schools are a mess, teachers have to buy their own supplies, and their favorite “word” Diversity and inclusion. SHAME ON THEM. Never forget 11 Superintendents in just few years.
AMEN & AMEN–I’m “WHITE”, my 2 kids who teach here are “WHITE”, but I came from another county & I can NOT believe SBAC, ACPS, whatever!!!!! I came here in 2012 & I am TOTALLY SHOCKED as a state of Florida teacher retiree with a MASTERS & certification in 3 areas. Both my kids have UF MASTERS & why in the world did they want to teach here & have their only child attend these schools????? I expected so much more in the county where UF is located–it is embarrassing!!!! The taxes, the streets, roads & GRU—what is it?????? GOD BLESS US ALL–NO matter what the color of our skin. GOD is the ONLY ANSWER. ,
I’m so mind blown!!!! 🤯 we deal with discrimination, racism, prejudices on a daily basis. When have we ever been able to sue because of this???? Seriously? So many black men and women have been killed for their skin color in many cities and their families have never seen retribution! Looked over for job opportunities because of how we look!!! Hated and feared because of the same reason! I’m so over this society we live in! Justify the BS!!!! Ughh!
Why don’t you check our and simply leave Paris? You are so unhappy. Shame.
Behave better.
ALACHUA COUNTY SUPERVISORS, that’s 15million that could have been used to build schools or fix our crumbling infrastructure. Shame on you. Be better stewards of our tax dollars
How is it possible that in a case of a white against a black man, all the jury members are white?
I fail to feel sympathy for the white plaintiff, when SO many black people and other minorities have suffered discrimination and worse atrocities for many generations, and have never received retribution.
In my opinion, if the plaintiff’s complaint were justified, his past salary due if he had been promoted, plus his legal fees, would have been reasonable as an award. $15 million is totally unprecedented, unjustified and unreasonable. Emotional toll? Totally ridiculous!
A small punishment would have been justified. When I say small, I mean $50k or less.
This is a ridiculous amount. What was the jury thinking? Is all of this the responsibility of Alachua County taxpayers? Then I am relly mad at this.
Simply put, Clovis was a bad state rep and an even worse Sheriff, interesting there is no outrage as to how bad he was in both roles by those who elected this clown.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see similar suits directed at other functions in our local government.
Our local government has unbelievable turnover at the highest hired executive levels. It’s obvious that our elected officials are not good at working with hired executives.