The Franklin County Commissioners and sheriff’s office will pay a deputy over $170,000 to settle a lawsuit for alleged race discrimination. The deputy was fired and then re-instated after an incident at a Kroger grocery store.
Court documents say Deputy Mario Marcus, a Black man, was shopping at a Columbus Kroger in 2017 when an employee confronted him following a sale dispute.
The employee allegedly put his arms on Marcus which led to a shove from the deputy. He was off-duty.
Marcus was charged with assault, but it was dismissed. Court documents say sheriff Dallas Baldwin alleged that Marcus had lied about the assault charge and then fired him.
He has been reinstated. Attorney Christopher Cooper represented Marcus and declined to comment for this story. A statement from the Sheriff's department said, "the settlement provides for a dismissal of the lawsuit, with prejudice, and with no admission of liability by the County or the Sheriff’s Office."
Both sides agreed to settle for $172,000. Commissioners will vote on whether to approve that at Tuesday night's meeting.
