Black man awarded $600,000 after arrest by boss's police chief friend

A black man who was wrongfully arrested after reporting racial discrimination to his boss — who then sent racist texts about the man to local police officers — has been awarded a $600,000 (£462,723) payout.

Michael Fesser, 48, said in a new interview that he was “terrified” to go back to the town of West Linn, Oregon following the false arrest.



A friend of Mr Fesser’s boss, who served as the small town’s police chief, used local officers as a “personal posse” to implement an “old-boy-style racism” that involved arresting the father of eight without probable cause, according to his attorney.