PLUMBERS & PIPE FITTERS (UA)
Chicago Local Loses Discrimination Suit, Must Pay $155,000 in Damages
U.S. Dist. Judge David H. Coar (N.D. Ill., Clinton) ordered United
Ass'n of Plumbers & Pipe Fitters Local 597
Mar. 28 to pay eight black union members $155,000 to compensate them for
on-the-job racial harassment, which he described as "vile, disgusting and
insulting." Coar found the Chicago-based local liable for the emotional
suffering and mental anguish endured by the eight. The eight were harassed
in 1995 and 1996 while working on the construction of a waste-to-energy
incinerator in Robbins, Ill. In addition to the damage award, Coar ordered
wide-ranging injunctive relief after finding that the local's actions were
intentional and there was a strong possibility of future discriminatory
behavior.
Gregory Gochanour, the EEOC supervisory trial attorney in the matter, said the ruling is unique because it points to organized labor's responsibilities for securing worksites free of racial harassment and intimidation. He said Local 597's suggestion that it had little authority or power to curb racist behavior clearly was inadequate in the view of the court. EEOC believes that this is one of the very few instances in which a union has been held responsible in a racial harassment case.
"There can be no serious contention that the racial environment at the Robbins construction site was not racially hostile," Coar wrote. "Despite the contentions of Local 597, the graffiti on the walls of the port-a-johns was vile, disgusting and insulting. Only a visitor from another planet would fail to understand the ugliness of what was written and drawn on those walls." Coar also rejected the union's suggestion that a certain amount of racist talk and graffiti occurs at all construction sites and cannot be controlled. He concluded that the union knew about the racist environment, knew it to be egregious, and condoned it through its inaction.
In his final judgment, Coar granted $25,000 in compensatory damages to the lead plaintiff James M. Ferguson. Compensatory awards of $15,000 were granted to two other pipefitters and awards of $10,000 were granted to five others. In addition, a punitive damage award of $ 50,000 was granted, with $20,000 going to Ferguson and the remaining $30,000 being split equally between the remaining seven plaintiffs.
As for the injunctive relief, Coar ordered Local 597 to develop a written policy against racial harassment and a mechanism for gathering and evaluating complaints of such harassment. In addition, he ordered the local to develop a training program covering racial harassment for all union members and to mail notices to union members about the outcome of the litigation. Finally, Coar ordered the local to supply EEOC with six written reports about its compliance with the order over a three-year period.
The local was represented at trial by Charles Regan of the Chicago firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Another racial harassment suit involving the same local was cleared for trial by U.S. Dist. Judge Blanche M. Manning (N.D. Ill., Clinton) on Mar. 13. [BNA 4/2/02]
Union Corruption Update is made possible by the generous contributions from readers like you. NLPC, PO Box 6821, Falls Church, VA 22040. Thank you.
In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update, readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.
All back issues of the Union Corruption Update can be viewed at NLPC's website (http://www.nlpc.org). Also available is a union-by-union and state-by-state index of all Union Corruption Update articles.
If you have story ideas or suggestions for future editions of Union Corruption Update, please email NLPC at nlpc@nlpc.org. Thank you.
Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.
Union Corruption Update Article Index (by Union)
Union Corruption Update Article Index (by State)
Organized Labor Accountability Project