![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/\naffro.jpg\")
Seven former Boston police officers, all African-Americans
\n who were fired after testing positive for cocaine in drug tests using
\n samples of their hair, sued the police department yesterday, alleging
\n the screening technique is biased against African-Americans.<\/p>\n
Rheba Rutkowski, an attorney at Bingham McCutchen who represents the former
\n officers, said scientific literature indicates that the texture of African-American
\n hair as well as the hair products they use could skew the results of a
\n hair test. She also said hair tests are easier to pass if an employee has
\n light hair, and that stray molecules can bind to African-American hair,
\n altering the results.<\/p>\n
”African-American hair is different from white hair because, among other
\n things, it is coarser and thicker," Rutkowski said. ”In fact, those
\n properties make it far more likely to yield a false positive on a hair
\n test than white hair."<\/p>\n
from the Boston Globe<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seven former Boston police officers, all African-Americans who were fired after testing positive for cocaine in drug tests using samples of their hair, sued the police department yesterday, alleging the screening technique is biased against African-Americans. Rheba Rutkowski, an attorney … Continue reading