article_snippet.sent: 'Discrimination': Gerry Pickens, 28, is suing Orting, Washington, for firing him.
article_snippet.sent: Gerry Pickens, 28, was fired by the chief of police in Orting, Washington, after just under a year on the town's police force - an act he claims is motivated by racism.
article_snippet.sent: However, before Gerry Pickens probation year was out, Gerry Pickens said Gerry Pickens had become the butt of racist jokes from residents and Gerry Pickens fellow cops - and was eventually fired for reasons Gerry Pickens says are down to the color of Gerry Pickens skin.
article_snippet.sent: The situation came to a head earlier this year, when Gerry Pickens woke to find Gerry Pickens car daubed with racist graffiti, seemingly prompted by fears Gerry Pickens would sue over Gerry Pickens dismissal.
article_snippet.sent: The incident, at the end of January this year, came to light again after the Washington Post published a long account of Pickens' time in Orting, detailing some of what Sue cheif sees as racist treatment. '
article_snippet.sent: Pickens' says that fellow officers picked on Pickens' and that Pickens' was given harsher treatment than other officers by Pickens' superiors .
article_snippet.sent: A letter sent to Orting police by Pickens''s attorney also said that after Pickens's attorney left the force, the chief of police, Bill Drake, 'slandered' Pickens's attorney former employee when asked for references by other forces.
article_snippet.sent: It claims Pickens's attorney 'prevented Pickens's attorney from future employment as a police officer.'
article_snippet.sent: However, the initial letter confirming that Pickens' would be fired cited 'unsatisfactory performance'.
article_snippet.sent: Allegations: Included in a $5million lawsuit is an allegation that Orting police chief Bill Drake 'slandered' Pickens' and stopped slandered' Pickens from getting new jobs .