Ruling found UND police chief was victim of discrimination over vote for Trump
MINOT, N.D. — In January, former University of North Dakota police chief Eric Plummer filed a complaint with the university alleging discrimination based on his vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
In July, an administrative law judge ruled that Plummer’s complaint had merit, finding that the change in behavior toward him from UND administrators “constitutes discrimination.”
The relationship between Plummer and Cara Halgren, vice president of student affairs, is at the crux of this matter. The two had a strong working relationship starting in 2012 that included informal breakfast meetings off campus. At one of these meetings, after the 2016 election, Halgren asked Plummer who he voted for. Plummer, reportedly reluctant to inject politics into the working relationship, said he voted for Trump.
“After thoroughly reviewing the investigation report along with the attached materials, the undersigned concludes, by the greater weight of the evidence, that Halgren discriminated against Plummer due to his political beliefs or assumed political affiliation,” the ruling, written by Judge Hope Hogan, concludes.
