Cleveland settles for $15K with ex-cop fired over Hells Angels links
Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com September 11, 2025
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A fired Cleveland police officer settled his lawsuit with the city for $15,000 after he said officials rescinded an offer to rehire him for an EMS position.
Shawn Simmons, who was fired in 2019 for links to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, accused the city of racial discrimination because he is Black.
Cleveland officials said they decided to settle because a trial would have required the city to pay an “exorbitant cost at taxpayers’ expense” for international legal experts and others to testify. The settlement amount was far less than the projected expenses, said city spokesman Tyler Sinclair.
“The City of Cleveland firmly denied that this case was ever about racial discrimination,” Sinclair’s statement said.
Simmons’ attorney, Avery Friedman, did not return a message seeking comment.
Simmons was fired in 2019 after international law enforcement told Cleveland police that Simmons had ties to the Hells Angels’ Norwegian chapter. They included accusations that he trained some of the gang’s members in martial arts and that he had twice been convicted of felonies for extortion and assault.
Simmons denied being a member of the gang during the internal police investigation that led to his firing.
One day after he was fired, Simmons was hired by Put-in-Bay police, where he worked for less than two months. In 2023, Simmons applied for a job with Cleveland EMS.
The lawsuit said Simmons told several city officials during interviews that he had previously been fired by the city. The officials believed it wouldn’t be a problem for Simmons since he was applying to be a paramedic, according to the filing.
He was offered a job on Aug. 4, 2023, but nine days later, city officials said they couldn’t hire him because of his prior convictions in Norway, even though the convictions there were expunged.
He was convicted of extortion in 2008 and bodily harm, the equivalent of aggravated assault, in 2015, according to his letter of termination.
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