A federal judge has rejected the city of Coatesville’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by a city police officer who contends that he has suffered racial discrimination brought about by polices endorsed by the former chief, Julius Canale.

In a six-page opinion issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III ruled that the city had failed to convince him that there insufficient reason for the suit filed in June by Corporal Larry Cooper to proceed.

The city had contended that the suit should be dismissed because Cooper, who was hired by the city in 1996 and promoted to his current rank in 2002, before Canale was appointed to the position of chief, did not go through the department’s grievance procedure with his complaints of a policy of racial bias.