United States v. Maryland Department of State Police

In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of State Police (MDSP) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The suit, United States of America v. Maryland Department of State Police (1:24-CV-02862), alleged that MDSP relied upon a written examination that disproportionately excluded black applicants from employment as troopers. It further alleged that MDSP relied upon a physical fitness examination that disproportionately excluded female applicants from employment as troopers. Econ One’s Dr. D.C. Sharp, an expert in applied econometrics and statistics with experience in class action employment litigation, was retained by the DOJ.

Dr. Sharp was asked to determine whether black applicants were disproportionately disqualified by the written exam, and whether female applicants were disproportionately disqualified by the physical exam, at statistically significant rates. For each of the challenged exams, Dr. Sharp relied upon a statistical test (i.e., “the Z test”) along with a well-known Court-determined benchmark (“the Hazelwood Standard”) used to detect statistically significant differences between actual and expected outcomes. Combining this statistical methodology with MDSP’s applicant flow data, Dr. Sharp found that the challenged exams did indeed disqualify black and female candidates from the hiring process at significantly disproportionate rates. Based upon Dr. Sharp’s statistical work, the DOJ concluded that MDSP’s exams violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The DOJ reached a settlement agreement with the MDSP in 2024, the terms of which establish, among other things, $2.75M in back pay to applicants who were disqualified by MDSP’s use of the challenged exams. For more, see https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-agreement-maryland-department-state-police-resolve-allegations.