White Chicago Firefighters Win Reverse Discrimination Suit for $2.3 Million or More! (05/18/02) CHICAGO [AP]-- "Nine white firefighters won more than $2.3 million in back pay and damages because their scores on a lieutenant's test were lowered 16 years ago because the city wanted to promote minorities.
U.S. District Judge James Holderman could also award pay for promotions eight of the firefighters would have received if they'd been promoted at the time of the 1986 test. "In a related case, 10 city firefighters were awarded more than $2.2 million in damages in March. The judge added $400,000 in interest based on pay they did not receive because they were not promoted. "Damages must still be decided for 35 firefighters a jury said were the victims of discrimination in a 1986 fire lieutenant's exam, city law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said. As many as 75 other firefighters have filed claims against the city, but a ruling has not yet been made about whether they were discriminated against, she said." (Excerpted from the Associated Press story as published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5/18/02.) [Last Known Link: Black boss biased against white cops (04/13/01) The Wentworth police district is on Chicago's South Side. The Commander is Marienne Perry, a black woman. She has 24 years with the department, and she was promoted to Commander in 1999. Ms. Perry is being charged with racially harassing white subordinates as well as making public statements such as "when citizens walk into our station they expect to see a black face, not a white one!" The Chicago Sun-Times reports: "Seven white supervisors in a South Side police district are accusing their black commander of a pattern of reverse discrimination in complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "The officers said they filed the federal charges against Wentworth Cmdr. Marienne Perry because an internal grievance they made about six months ago was not aggressively pursued." The white cops have accused Commander Marienne Perry of giving preferential treatment to black officers in promotions; launching more internal investigations against white officers than against black officers; and making racially biased remarks against white officers. "She's gone so far as to make statements that when people of the 2nd District walk into this station, they expect to see a black face," said Jeff Wilson, president of the Chicago Police Lieutenants Association. But Perry denied the allegations, saying she judges everyone by a standard of "decency, ethics and fair play. If they meet the standard, they have no problem with me," she said. The department has launched an internal investigation into the charges of reverse discrimination. The Chicago Sun-Times identified three of the complaining white officers as Lt. Diane O'Sullivan, Sgt. Jan Roche and Sgt. Al Cain. "This has been the worst 1 1/2 years of my life," said one of them, asking not to be identified. "She is racist against white officers. There's a double standard." Another officer added: "You can't work." This officer implied that race was Commander Perry's motivation for second-guessing every decision by white officers while she was supportive of decisions of black officers. The Sun-Times reported that seven white lieutenants have left the district in the last 19 months because of harassment from Perry, the complaints said. Also according to the Sun-Times, the spin-meisters within the South Side's Wentworth station are already offering the "equal opportunity harasser" defense: Commander Marienne Perry, they say, doesn't just treat white officers badly, she treats everyone badly. It is a common defense in reverse discrimination cases. Perry's defenders say the departure of white officers from the district is a result "of her abrasive management style."
(Based on the April 13, 2001 Chicago Sun-Times story by Frank Main and Fran Speilman) [Last known link: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/disc13.html] Chicago "The thought that you can correct the deep-seated racial problems (in two hours) is pretty weak," said one female officer. Another white male lieutenant reported "I think it's a farce myself that they put all these fire companies out of service for two hours to listen to some guy who has never been in a firehouse." The instructor is being paid a whopping $130,000 to conduct these so-called diversity trainings. Instructor Samuel Betances is a retired sociology professor from Northeastern Illinois University who is of black and Puerto Rican heritage. The Windy City lamely hopes that helping make Mr. Betance wealthy will somehow "help heal the racial divisiveness" in a department that is 75% white and which has experienced many reverse discrimination lawsuits. It has not occurred to the Chicago FD that resorting to "fair and equal treatment under the law without regard to race" just might be a far less expensive and far more effective solution! (Based on the story in the Chicago Tribune, Metro Section, by Andrew Martin, 12/22/98) [Last known link *http://www.chicagotribune.com/splash/article/0,1051,SAV-9812220140,00.html] Chicago "A Chicago Fire Department battalion chief lashed out at the city Monday for reassigning him based on the word of a fire captain." Battallion Chief John Marolda, who is white, feels Capt. Curtis Powell, who is black, is playing the race card against Marolda out of revenge for writing up Powell for a violent act in the station (which was witnessed and attested to by several others). "On Sept. 12, Powell was written up on physical violence charges after nine colleagues at Engine No. 96, 429 N. Waller, witnessed him picking a fight with a firefighter attempting to use the kitchen stove. 'A firefighter was cooking something to eat and Capt. Powell pushed him away from the stove. Powell said it was his stove. It's the city's stove--not his stove. A vicious verbal argument ensued and I was told about it later that evening,' Marolda said. " 'I told the members if that's what happened, make out your forms to me and I'll start the investigation. The following day, I recommended that a physical violence charge be placed against Capt. Powell and the district chief agreed. Two days later, I was charged with racial harassment.' "Marolda and Lt. Marv Hagele have been reassigned to 'citywide' duty pending the outcome of the Fire Department's internal investigation into Powell's race discrimination charges. 'We're not being prosecuted. We're being persecuted,' said Marolda." (Based on the Chicago Sun-Times story 1/26/99 by Fran Spielman) [Last known link *http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/capt26.html] Chicago "Mayor Daley scoffed at a union leader's suggestion that [racial] tensions at Engine 96 at 429 N. Waller stemmed from the city's decision to promote minorities at the expense of higher-scoring whites. 'When you quarter people 24 hours a day in a setting, it becomes very difficult on each other's nerves,' the mayor told reporters. The facts suggest that Daley is dreaming. The white firefighters in the department frequently and publicly object to such racially-preferential practices as adjusting minority firefighters’ scores upwards if they don’t initially pass the exam. Minorities claim this creates a hostile work environment, while whites contend that using racial quotas creates a hostile work environment for them! Conversely, minority firefighters object to the white firefighters practice of posting news articles which are uncomplimentary toward the use of racial quotas and preferences. The Mayor should listen to the union leader: getting back to qualifications without regard to skin color will do a lot more to solve racial tensions than shortening the shifts. (Based on the Chicago Sun-Times story 12/23/99 by Fran Spielman) [Last known link: *http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fire32.html] Chicago 28 Chicago firefighters attended a party at a firehouse in 1990. Unfortunately for them a videotape was made of portions of the party which video allegedly showed inebriated firefighters using racial slurs and exposing themselves. A minority agent of the city, operating without a judicially-authorized search warrant, 'leaked' a copy of the tape, and as a result 7 firefighters were fired, and 21 were suspended. For a party. The good news for the disciplined firefighters is that the city failed to observe the statutory requirement that charges be brought within 6 months, so arbitrator Edwin Benn has ordered the city to rehire the illegally fired firefighters, and has further ordered that the city award back pay to everyone who was disciplined in this case. The Tribune, and others, bandy about allegations that inebriated firefighters went out on fire calls after the beer blast, but neither the Tribune nor the minority special interests who originated this complaint have offered any Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) test results to back up this wild claim. (Based on the Chicago Tribune story 01-02-99) [Last known link *http://www.chicagotribune.com/splash/article/0,1051,SAV-9901020029,00.html] Chicago In 1993 11 Blacks and four Hispanics who were less qualified than the white firefighter applicants were given jobs in this Chicago FD. Nine "white" firefighters were denied jobs even though they were more qualified. They sued the city for reverse discrimination. On Nov. 9, 1998 the Supreme Court ruled against the Constitutional protection of these "white" firefighters against racial discrimination. (Based on the PostNet News story 11/09/98) [Last known link: *web3.stlnet.com/postnet/News/wires.nsf/StateRegion/E6EB228422D22B03862566B700585DA6] Chicago Like his father, Mayor Daley, Jr. doesn't have much use for federal interference in the operation of his city! EEOC is so peeved at Daley's resistance to racial quotas, they're threatening to sic Bill Lann Lee's Justice Department on him! The EEOC wants the city to engage in what Daley calls "social promotions" solely for purposes of race. (Based on the Chicago Sun Times story 8/7/98 -- link no longer available.) Chicago The Windy City's Police Dept. doesn't seem to like police test scores for hiring and promotion; they prefer something they call "merit promotions" which take race into account. The Fraternal Order of Police thinks its a back door attempt at racial quotas. (Based on the Chicago Tribune story 8/6/98) [Last known link: http://chicagotribune.com/version1/article/0,1575,SAV-9808060253,00.html] Illinois (Highland Park): ACLU Forces Highland Park Police to Racially Profile
Everyone! (07/14/00)
Neither the ACLU nor the Highland Park Police have publicly offered any proof that
officers ever engaged in any racially discriminatory behavior. (Adversity.Net
special report 07/14/00) Illinois
(State): 5,000 White Males Illegally Rejected by
Illinois State Police Since 1975! Additional Reading:
END Chicago: Police, Fire, Municipal |
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