PEP, April 2008: Members win $21million settlement in race discrimination case at Parks Dept.

Attention
	All African-American and Hispanic NYC Parks Dept. Employees who were employed on a full-time basis at any time between May 24, 1997 and June 20, 2004, for details on the $21 settlement click here.

Plaintiffs including (from left) Walter Beech, Kathleen Walker and Robert Wright, initiated a historic lawsuit to end bias in the Parks Dept. “This was not about money, but about change for us, our children and the future, so anyone in this agency won’t be limited or judged by their skin color,” Walker said.

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

A nine-year battle against illegal racial discrimination in the Parks Dept. ended Feb. 26 when the city agreed to pay $21 million and provide a level playing field for Black and Latino employees to settle the federal class action lawsuit.

“This victory by our members who work for the Parks Dept. is the result of a fine case brought by the NAACP with ample help from DC 37. This case is a model in the fight against discrimination. It also highlights the ways in which DC 37 and other unions provide workers critically important protection against unfair and unjust treatment in the workplace,” said DC37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

“This is a victory that brings equal justice for all our DC 37 members who work in Parks,” said Local 1505 President Michael Hood, who chairs the DC 37 Parks Policy Committee.

District Council 37 played a role in gathering evidence that the Dept. of Parks and Recreation under then-Commissioner Henry Stern mocked the principles of civil service and racial equality by paying white workers more than African Americans and Latinos in the same jobs, promoting whites with less experience to higher paying jobs and excluding longstanding minority employees from career advancement.

Eleven plaintiffs from DC 37 locals 299, 983, 1505 and others initiated the lawsuit. The numbers grew to 125 as more members came forward after DC 37 attorney Robin Roach crafted a survey and local leaders referred members who were having problems moving up the career ladder in Parks.

Settlement covers 3,500
The settlement covers about 3,500 current and retired Parks employees who were discriminated against from 1997 through 2004.

“The main obstacle we had to overcome was nine years of resistance from the city in the face of overwhelming evidence of racial and national origin discrimination,” said attorney Lewis M. Steel. A decision by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allowed the Parks workers to file a class action in federal court in 2001.

Parks Dept. employees:
Do you have money coming?

Get the facts on the settlement of the discrimination suit against the city Parks and Recreation Dept.

Come to a meeting:
April 9 or April 23 at 6 p.m.
DC 37, 125 Barclay St., in Manhattan

DC 37 will host two informational meetings for class members* of the Parks Dept. class action lawsuit claiming race and national origin discrimination. The meetings will be on April 9 and April 23, 2008 at 6 p.m. in Room 1 at DC 37 headquarters, 125 Barclay Street, in Manhattan. The attorneys for the plaintiff class will be there to describe the terms of the settlement and to answer your questions regarding the settlement.

*To be considered a class member in this racial discrimination and national origin lawsuit, you must be African-American or Hispanic and you must have been employed by the New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation on a full-time, year-round basis at any time between May 24, 1997, and June 30, 2004.

“The city mounted a powerful, well-financed plan to oppose cases that should have been resolved quickly,” Steel said. “The city failed to have an effective system to monitor its own hiring and promotion practices. It’s been 44 years since civil rights laws were enacted; that should be enough time to figure out how to effectively enforce them.”

Now the Parks Dept. has put in place systems that check for race-based patterns in pay disparities and title classifications, explained Steel. The case was handled by Steel, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Beldock, Levine and Hoffman firm. Details can be viewed at www.naacpldf.org.

The DC 37 Parks Policy Committee, local presidents and reps will meet with Steel and other lawyers April 3 to discuss how the settlement affects members and how new policies will be implemented in the Parks Dept.

“This case sends a clear message to management at Parks and elsewhere that DC 37 believes that all workers deserve to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. It also puts employers on notice against trying to create a two-tier system to side step Civil Service Law,” Roberts said.

“DC 37 will not allow this victory to stand alone. In fact, we are currently pressing other large scale litigation which, while not involving racial discrimination, aims to protect the rights of workers at the Department of Education and the New York Police Department,” she added.
Hood said, “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but in this case justice hasprevailed.”