The lawsuit said long-time employees sued the city of San Diego and repeatedly robbed black employees, including him, of deserving promotions, alleging they could not prevent their bosses from engaging in managerial practices. racist jobs.
The city received an annual equal employment opportunity report that revealed a shortage of black employees in managerial and managerial positions in city departments, according to a lawsuit it filed September 15. He hired Wilson Kennedy III in 1998. He was promoted to a Supervisory Management Analyst.
The procedures refer to many accomplishments since Kennedy’s hiring. According to the lawsuit, he helped launch H20SD, the county’s first water use support program. He also led the research that led to the creation of the city’s first anonymous hotline to report fraud, waste and abuse.
Kennedy co-authored a training manual, developed department-wide training, and was twice appointed as a quarterly employee. According to the procedures, he also holds an MBA with a specialization in financial management.
Despite these and other accomplishments, Kennedy has been denied various jobs and promotion opportunities more than 80 times in 12 years, according to the procedure.
Kennedy always applied for a job offer, but was rarely interviewed and, according to procedure, his application was sometimes refused. Instead, inexperienced non-Black applicants often got jobs, the procedure said.
“I’m a very optimistic person,” Kennedy said in an interview Thursday.
“I am a believer and have tried to be hopeful, thinking my time will come. But I have been in the same position for 12 years. Special projects and projects that others cannot do. And when the time comes to do less desirable things, I think they’re the most reliable people, but when the opportunity for a promotion comes to have a positive impact on me and my family, I can’t see it. “
For example, in 2016, Kennedy’s director offered to apply for a program director position in the utilities sector where Kennedy has worked since 2009. Kennedy did, but he was not given the opportunity to have a job interview. Instead, a white man with little experience in the department was hired, and Kennedy was not told why he was handed over, the procedure said.
A few years later, Kennedy applied for another managerial position. This time, he asked for comments after the interview, but his request was dismissed, according to procedure. The position was then offered to an inexperienced white woman, but she declined and her position was transferred to a white man. A year later, another white man who did not go interview for the post was placed in the post, according to the procedure.
In another example detailed in the procedure, the white employee was placed in a temporary position and then became permanent and, according to the procedure, avoided an essentially fair and competitive interview process. ..
The procedures included more than 12 other situations, including jobs that Kennedy applied for and jobs that were filled without an interview process, and said the procedures were an example of “discriminatory employment practices and promotion “of the city. I did.
“I feel betrayed that the City of San Diego does not treat its staff in a non-discriminatory manner,” Kennedy said during the proceedings. “(Kennedy) was the victim of (the city’s) discriminatory patterns and practices against black workers.”
San Diego spokeswoman Nicole Darling said the city could not comment on the litigation.
Kennedy is far from the first employee to sue the city over racist allegations.
Workers should first seek permission from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing before taking legal action against an employer for any form of discrimination, whether based on race, age or location. handicap.
From 2015 to May 2020, the state authorized 41 employees of the City of San Diego to initiate lawsuits. According to state records, more than 30% of these 41 people complain of racial discrimination.
One of them was Cynthia Mitchell’s refusal to raise or promote Mitchell and other black employees, accusing her of failing to prevent the director of human resources from giving special treatment to Iranian employees. .. ..
She was awarded $ 250,000 in an approved settlement in July.
Kennedy said he didn’t just file a complaint himself. He knows other Black City employees who have gone through the same struggle and hopes the procedure will bring about a significant and lasting change in the process of maintaining and promoting the city.
“It has to stop, and I don’t think it will stop until there is accountability and consequences,” Kennedy said. “This kind of discrimination has been going on for years, decades and generations, and it’s like nothing has happened. No result. Without effect. No liability, and that’s why it continues. “
According to the city’s latest Equal Employment Opportunity report, in 2020 about 7% of San Diego city officials and managers were black. Blacks make up about 6% of the city’s population.
However, some departments, including Wilson’s, do not have black employees. This includes the city’s ethics committee, the municipal auditor’s office, and the independent budget analysis office.
There are a lot of black employees in the other departments he applied for, but few or no managers.
In the environmental services sector, 28% of employees are black, but there are no managers or civil servants. In the Parks and Recreation sector, 17% of employees are black and there is only one manager or executive.
Nationally, just 8% of managers and just over 4% of CEOs are black, according to federal data.
Employees in the City of Color also earn less than employees in the White City. Earlier this year, the city’s first comprehensive wage survey found employees of color to be 20.8 percent less than whites.
The survey is largely due to the fact that white men are more likely to hold fire and police positions than minorities and women, but 12% of racial and ethnic pay gaps remain unexplained. Meet.
The report states that the remaining pay inequality is generally due to discrimination. However, the authors state that the city does not track employee education levels or performance appraisal results, which can also affect pay inequalities.
Kennedy’s proceedings seek damages, lost wages, employment opportunities and unspecified amounts of compensation for mental and mental distress.
The accountant applied for 80 jobs, promotions and got 0. Was this racism? Source link Accountant applied for 80 jobs, promotions and got 0. Was this racism?
