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Attorney Michael B. Black
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$1.6 Million to Settle Class Racial Bias Lawsuit
Ford Motor Co., along with two related companies and a national union, will pay $1.6 million and provide other remedial relief to a class of nearly 700 African Americans to settle a major race discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. The EEOC had charged in the litigation that a written test used by Ford, Visteon and Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) to determine the eligibility of hourly employees for a skilled trades apprenticeship program had a disproportionately negative impact on African Americans. The National United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) was also a defendant in the case because the test was used to select apprentices in the Ford-UAW Joint Apprenticeship Program and the lawsuit settlement affects people covered by the union agreement. The comprehensive relief obtained by the EEOC includes about $1.6 million for the class of nearly 700 African Americans nationwide who have taken the test since January 1, 1997, and were not placed on the Ford apprentice list at the former Visteon facilities. Non-monetary relief includes placing 55 African American test takers on the apprentice lists and the development, by a jointly selected expert, of a new selection method for the apprenticeship program together with detailed reporting and monitoring provisions. "We are pleased this settlement will address the serious problem of selection criteria that result in racial minorities receiving fewer job opportunities," said EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp. "Apprenticeship programs are a ladder to skilled, high-paying jobs and every group should be able to climb that ladder based on genuine abilities." The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the court on September 9, 2007, is pending final approval by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Spiegel of the Southern District of Ohio. Upon approval by the court, the settlement will resolve the EEOC's suit against Ford, Visteon and ACH and will also resolve the class members' suit against Ford, Visteon, ACH and the UAW. This suit is a successor case to the EEOC's earlier suit against Ford and UAW which was settled for $8.5 million in 2005 and covers additional people disadvantaged by the test in question who were not covered in that settlement. On December 3, 2007, the EEOC issued a new Employment Testing Fact Sheet which cites the Ford case. "The EEOC is pleased to have been able to work cooperatively with Ford and the UAW in reaching a mutually satisfactory resolution to this matter," said EEOC Regional Attorney Jacqueline McNair. "Employers must consider how all aspects of selection processes including written tests may adversely impact members of a particular demographic group." On Feb. 28, 2007, Chair Earp launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign to raise public awareness about new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace.

Employees file lawsuits alleging race
Two municipal employees have filed racial discrimination lawsuits, within a week of each other, against the city of Toledo. Firefighter Roger Swan filed suit Dec. 14 in U.S. District Court in Toledo claiming that he has been "subjected to a hostile work environment due to his race." Mr. Swan is seeking both a culture of change in the city and compensatory damages in excess of $5 million. A week later, Andrew Monticure, a sewer maintenance worker with the Department of Public Utilities, sued the city in Lucas County Common Pleas Court claiming he lost a promotion after white employees complained about his advancement. He requested $1.5 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Both employees are black. While both lawsuits claim that the city has bred a culture of discrimination, city Law Director John Madigan said such complaints often are unfounded. "We get lawsuits over the course of the year including a number of different types of discrimination that is alleged, most of them unfounded," Mr. Madigan said, adding that he was not aware of the details of the two cases. "If this were a big problem, we'd be paying out big money and we haven't." Mr. Swan's suit was assigned to federal Judge Jack Zouhary; Mr. Monticure's was assigned to Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings. In the federal lawsuit, Mr. Swan said he experienced discrimination because he is black, is in a mixed-race marriage, and has complained of discrimination previously. A 15-year veteran of the fire department, Mr. Swan said the racially hostile workplace affecting him has included "Nazi reading materials and pro-Nazi comments," "racist talk such as dragging people behind pickup trucks with chains," and "being counseled and criticized for his job performance when in fact this was not warranted." Mr. Swan, whose annual salary is $55,119, attached a report with the lawsuit from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission dated May 7, 2007. The commission found that it was "probable" that the city "engaged in unlawful discriminatory practice." Attorney Thomas Sobecki, who is representing Mr. Swan, said that the seven-page complaint filed in federal court "speaks for itself." He added that Mr. Swan is asking the courts to order the city to provide a work environment free from discrimination as well as order that a harassment policy and procedure be disseminated and enforced. "This is more than just money; otherwise we wouldn't spend a page of the lawsuit asking for changes to be made," the attorney said. "If Mr. Swan thought this was an isolated incident, he would not be asking for change." Mr. Madigan said he was not aware of the specific details of either case and so could not comment. Brian Schwartz, a spokesman for Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, could not be reached for comment yesterday. In his lawsuit dated Dec. 21, Mr. Monticure sued both the city and his union, AFSCME Local 7. Employed by the city for 14 years, he said he applied for the job of sewer construction repair in October, 2005, and subsequently was promoted. He said the job requirements for the position were then "re-done" after several white colleagues complained, which resulted in his loss of the position. Neither Mr. Monticure, whose annual salary is $33,261, nor his attorney, Lafe Tolliver, could be reached for comment yesterday.

Racial discrimination suit settled
B&J Excavating of Downingtown will pay $27,500 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of a black pipe layer by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency said Thursday. The EEOC claimed in its suit brought in August 2007 that B&J Excavating selected William B. Pennington of Coatesville for layoff and then did not return him to work because he is black. The EEOC said Pennington worked as a pipe layer/laborer for the company since July 2005 and was often charged with training newly hired pipe layers. The EEOC claimed the company selected Pennington for temporary layoff after a major snowstorm hit the area and told him to call weekly about work availability. The EEOC alleged, however, that the company recalled or hired white employees to work as laborers but did not recall Pennington. B&J Excavating denied the allegations in the complaint but agreed to pay Pennington the monetary damages as well as provide training to its managers about federal prohibitions against discrimination, the agency said.

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