Sgt. Douglas Wright, an Ithaca Police officer who is suing the city for racial discrimination, was the second-highest paid employee in the Ithaca police and fire departments in the most recent pay period for which records are available. During that period, his pay was higher than the two officers who, his lawsuit says, were unfairly promoted at Wright’s expense.

Wright took more money home than 43 more senior members of the police and fire departments and was paid $12,000 more than the chief of police during that pay period, according to SeeThroughNY.net, a non-profit organization that gathers government expenditures in New York State. Wright received a total of $113,474.46 during that one-year period, which ended March 31, 2011, SeeThroughNY figures show.

In the two prior years, Wright was also one of the 10 highest paid employees in the police and fire departments — a group that includes about 140 personnel.

Wright did not respond to specific questions about his own pay, but said that overtime work often inflates officers’ earnings.

Wright said that overtime work often inflates officers’ earnings, and that “other types of time … if not taken as time off, are paid out.”

“Officer pay is often increased by thousands because they work many hours of overtime throughout the year,” Wright said in an email. “It is not the officer’s fault the overtime exists. Due to the unpredictable nature of police work, there is a rather high frequency of overtime.”

The figures from SeeThroughNY are the officers’ total pay, which includes overtime, the organization says.

His high compensation does not directly contradict the claims he makes in his lawsuit, but it may raise questions about the extent of the discrimination he argues he suffered.

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