It’s just coming out, but The Oregonian is reporting that Oregon lawyers Keith Dozier and Aaron Baker obtained a jury verdict for $19 million in federal court here in Portland on behalf of four Thomason Toyota employees who suffered racial discrimination on the job. Keith is one of my favorite younger lawyers in Portland. He’s committed to doing things the right way. He’s kind of quiet and obviously committed to his clients. I don’t know Aaron, but I imagine he’s talented, too.

Verdicts of this size reflect outrage with a Big O.  I’ll keep an eye on this one and be posting about it as I learn more. In the meantime, if anyone out there knows about the case, I would appreciate your comments and would be happy to learn more about the case.

Congrats to the gentlemen who stood up for what’s right and their lawyers who obviously did a great job.

David Sugerman

Fair to assume that a number of employers sat up and took notice of these whopping big EEOC settlements finalized in U.S. District Court here in Oregon. The Oregonian news report suggests that Video Only was ordered by Judge King to pay a total of $630,000 on the two claims and the EEOC’s enforcement action. Not clear whether this was a private settlement, a consent decree or an actual decision.

According to the report, two employees–one Hispanic and the other African American, with a Jewish family–endured repeated racial, ethnic and religious slurs. Store management participated in the repeated misconduct. To add insult to injury, the news article reports that after receiving their complaints, Video Only hired an investigator to attempt to discredit the two men.

Here’s how the EEOC described the situation: “Our investigation discovered harassment that engaged in the worst stereotypes and slurs about blacks, Latinos and Jews, and that upper management actively participated in this behavior,” said Mike Baldonado, the EEOC’s acting district director. “The settlement should send a strong message that harassment based on race, national origin and religion has no place in the workplace.”

The news report also explains that the $500,000 of the $630,000 will be awarded to the two victims, and the balance will be paid to two co-workers who apparently suffered retaliation for supporting the complaints.

The size of the settlement should send a message to Oregon employers that management-led discrimination is going to result in a rather expensive slap down. That’s a good thing.

For my part, I can imagine that the men who took this on had a terribly difficult course at work and then–after blowing the whistle–likely had things get worse before they got better.

I’ve learned from clients over the years that blowing the whistle on employment discrimination is tough, especially when it is wide-spread and when it involves race, religion or sexual harassment. To my way of thinking, these four employees who said no deserve our thanks. By facing the monster, they made the workplace better for the rest of us. The other thing is that they’ve taught their children that sometimes we have to do hard things. Heroic.

David Sugerman

Gosh, why am I so not surprised by this report that disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ top aid broke hiring laws when she worked for the Department of Justice. Media reports indicate that the U.S. Dept. of Justice released a report finding that Monica Goodling broke federal law and Department of Justice rules by discriminating against applicants who weren’t Republicans or loyal conservatives.

This is something of a re-run, as the Gonzales DOJ also fired US Attorneys based upon loyalist considerations.  At least they’re consistent, as they illegally discriminated in both the hiring and the firing.

Sad to see what I’ve long suspected and that is that the Bush DOJ chose doctrine over talent. But then again, I think we’ve seen this elsewhere from this administration.

Heckuva job, Brownie.

David Sugerman

This news account of a teenager’s serious injury at a North Portland Junkyard suggests that one or more participants didn’t get their stories straight. Were the teens working for the company, or were they merely operating the yard’s front-end loader and other heavy equipment without being paid on the payroll?

It doesn’t really matter. The account and various quotes provide another reminder that teenagers often fail to appreciate risk. That’s part of the reason why we have child labor laws. Children often can’t understand or fully appreciate the risk of injury from work.
Front-end loaders, car shredders and other large machines do amazing work. But safety isn’t something trusted to a teenager’s common sense. Seems like the owners of the yard have some explaining to do. It looks like these kids were engaged in child labor on the payroll, or they were working under the table. Neither possibility reflects well on the owner and manager of the yard.

Let’s at least hope that the injured teen heals fully and recovers his health.

David Sugerman

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit in federal court in Portland on behalf of several female employees who claim to have been sexually harassed at Fred Meyer’s Oregon City store. Here is the url to the news report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23358954

According to news reports, the EEOC claims that Fred Meyer managers sexually harassed several female employees and then retaliated against the employees when they complained.

I suppose some might be critical that the government agency that is supposed to enforce discrimination laws filed suit. But speaking as someone who represents employees, it’s refreshing to see that the EEOC is enforcing employment discrimination laws.

David F. Sugerman