PEP, January 2005: Sex bias firing: Laborer wins new hearing

“It’s unfortunate that women who work non-traditional jobs still meet with discrimination.” — Local 924 President Kyle Simmons

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

The scales of justice tipped toward Vanessa David when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge slapped down a decision by the New York City Human Rights Commission last year and ordered a “full and fair” investigation of her 1999 gender discrimination complaint.

The court ruling will help Ms. David and Local 924 fight to correct a double wrong — her unjustified firing and the HRC’s total mishandling of her charge that she was axed because she was a woman doing a “man’s job.”

Ms. David is a former City Laborer and Local 924 member who was dismissed in 1999 after seven months at the Dept. of Education’s Division of School Facilities. When she turned to the HRC for justice, they buried her case for over four years and didn’t rule on it until 2003.

The African American former construction worker stands 6 feet one inch tall. She had been hired by the DOE as a temporary Laborer in 1995. When a permanent position opened up three years later and a Queens supervisor called Ms. David for the job, she became the only woman Laborer in the division. She had no problem lifting heavy boxes of floor tiles or hauling 4-by-8-foot panels of sheetrock up stairs — first as a competency test and later as part of her daily duties. After six months on the job, Ms. David received a letter of commendation from the principal of Springfield Gardens High School 59.

Humiliation
One month later, the Local 924 member was called into a manager’s office and fired without warning. She had never received the required interim evaluation. “I was hurt,” Ms. David said. “I felt humiliated and worthless. I know I worked as hard as any other Laborer. I just cried and told my shop steward, ‘I can’t believe they fired me.’”

The supervisor charged that Ms. David “worked slowly, required a great deal of supervision, showed little initiative and took little responsibility.”

Although no one in her crew ever complained about her work, the DOE also claimed she had problems working with others. But, 17 co-workers signed a petition saying Ms. David was “a conscientious worker who handled the job as well as all the other Laborers.”

According to union reps, some men did not want to work with a woman. Still others objected to her sexual orientation. Ms. David said she was the object of daily derogatory comments from her immediate supervisor. She said his remarks made her recoil, “I didn’t talk, I tried to make myself invisible and just do my job.”

“It’s unfortunate that women who work non-traditional jobs still meet with discrimination, and many are discouraged from even applying,” said Local 924 President Kyle Simmons. “Our local will continue to fight so our members — male and female — are treated fairly.”

“My plans for a bright future, a house, retirement are gone,” Ms. David said. She is unable to find a steady job that pays a Laborers’ $42,000 a year. Today she takes construction or security jobs that pay between $8 and $10 per hour with no health benefits or union protections.

The fight to win back her job dragged on as DOE cowed the Human Rights Commission into removing its initial investigator from the case and then let the paperwork languish on a desk for two years.

“Sham investigation”
The court decision pointed out that HRC never visited the job site, despite requests from Local 924 Vice President John Powers, and never interviewed Ms. David, Mr. Powers or the BOE supervisor before finding no probable cause to believe the firing was discriminatory.

“The HRC bungled the investigation plain and simple,” said Powers, who closely followed Ms. David’s case. “It was a sham at our member’s expense.”

The state Supreme Court reviewed the HRC’s ruling and concluded Ms. David was discriminated against twice — first by her BOE supervisor and then by the very commission set up to protect her rights. In April the Court annulled the HRC ruling and remanded the case for a new investigation.

“The Human Rights Commission is not willing to reinvestigate, but wants to rely on the old evidence,” said Ms. David’s lawyer, Edward G. Bailey. “I’m working to get my job back,” Ms. David said. “It’s depressing to have to relive this.” “We want the HRC to interview everyone and do what they failed to do when Vanessa first came to them for help,” said Mr. Powers. “We want justice for Vanessa. We won a little bit this round.” The division has hired no women since it fired Ms. David. Mr. Simmons urges members who feel they have been discriminated against to contact Local 924 at 212-815-1924.