Trump DOJ probe sought of Michigan State Police's DEI hiring practices

Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News on Sep 15, 2026

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LANSING, Mich. — An employment attorney who has successfully sued the Michigan State Police several times over its hiring decisions sent a 17-page letter last week to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for an investigation into "DEI hiring and promotion practices" at the Michigan State Police.

The goal of the the department's diversity, equity and inclusion program is to have a ratio of Black employees equal to the percentage of Black individuals in Michigan's population, Ann Arbor attorney James Fett wrote in the Sept. 11 letter to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the civil rights division.

The agency's goal and the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices it led to, Fett argued, are illegal under state and federal anti-discrimination laws.

"Private litigation, one plaintiff at a time, has not eliminated DEI that originates in the governor's office, is enforced through her executive directives, is defended by her attorney general and has been sustained through two MSP directors and multiple lawsuits," Fett wrote.

The need for the DOJ's intervention is "urgent," argued Fett, who's been involved in six employment cases against MSP since 2019.

"I implore the department, please open a pattern-or-practice investigation into MSP DEI practices, as well as the DEI practices of all other state departments," he wrote.

The letter outlines allegations from several MSP employee lawsuits, internal state police reports and legislative committees, citing depositions, testimony, interviews and statements from each.

The Michigan State Police, in a statement issued Sept. 15, said it "stands behind its members, who are highly trained public safety professionals in their respective fields."

"All state departments are required to follow civil service rules and federal law when it comes to hiring practices," said Lori Dougovito, a spokeswoman for the agency. "The MSP remains committed to ensuring these standards are upheld."

Dhillon has opened several civil rights investigations into Michigan schools and the Michigan Department of State, but has yet to tackle practices within other state government agencies.

In Fett's letter, he argued that Michigan State Police director, Colonel James Grady, sidesteps civil service rules and state and federal law by positioning the department to hire more Black candidates. The colonel does this, Fett wrote, by prioritizing Black applicants for recruit school, holding open vacancies to fill them with Black MSP members, filling interview panels with "subservient allies" who will hire his "pre-selected Black candidates," and by promoting Black candidates with inferior qualifications to their white counterparts.

The letter alleges the practice dates back to a 2019 executive directive from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which required every department to designate an equity and inclusion officer.

Poppy Hernandez was appointed the equity and inclusion officer of the governor's office; Sarah Krebs was appointed in December 2022 as the MSP's Chief DEI Inspector, but was "forced out" by Grady in October 2025, according to Fett's letter.

Krebs told the Michigan House Oversight Committee that she expressed concerns to Hernandez that Grady was holding positions open for pre-selected candidates and "introducing bias into these situations." She expressed concerns that it was being done illegally.

Hernandez responded, Krebs said, by saying Whitmer appointed Grady to his position to increase diversity and Krebs should support those efforts

Krebs also told House Oversight that Hernandez told her in October 2024 that "when I went to the governor's office, I had to relearn what's right and what's wrong. And what's right is doing what my boss needs."

In a deposition, according to the letter, MSP Major Ryan Pennell said Grady told him the governor told him to diversify the leadership team, and that the prior MSP leader, Colonel Joe Gasper, was unable to diversify the team. Grady, according to a separate deposition, denied telling anyone he was tasked with diversifying the agency.

Grady's predecessor, Gasper, the letter said, "announced the program openly" and told a director's meeting in February 2019 that the priority of the agency is diversity "at all levels of the MSP through the recruiting and promotional processes." In October 2019, the letter said, referring to depositions, Gasper told command officers that the department is "way too white and way too male."

After Gasper's retirement, in September 2023, Grady was "double promoted" to director and told the Michigan Advance in December 2023 that he found "the demographics of our applicant pool unacceptable, and as colonel, I am committed to ensuring minority representation within the department that mirrors the state of Michigan."

MSP's enlisted workforce, according to the letter, is 5% while Michigan's Black population is about 14%.

The letter lists several alleged instances in which promotion or hiring decisions were influenced by Grady in order to move a Black employee into the role. Employees alleged that they feared retaliation if they spoke out against Grady's hiring and promotion decisions, according to the letter.

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