A jury has awarded a Missouri police officer nearly $28.9 million AUD ($20 million USD) after he was told to tone down his gayness if he ever wanted to be promoted, according to his lawsuit which has prompted calls for his departments police chief to resign.

The St. Louis County Police Department was ordered on Friday to pay Sergeant Keith Wildhaber $19,970,000 USD in damages after he filed a lawsuit against the department that accused it of discrimination and retaliation.

We wanted to send a message, the jury foreman told reporters following the verdict, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . If you discriminate you are going to pay a big price. You cant defend the indefensible.

Wildhaber was passed over 23 times for a promotion, despite stellar performance reviews and him qualifying for the lieutenant position based on the positions criteria, according to a copy of his lawsuit obtained by HuffPost.