NEOC - Newsletters - Fall 99 - Volume 22

Governor Mike Johanns appointed two new members to the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission. John Leon from Alliance, and Merri L. Hackbarth from Lincoln, replaced Ben Castinado of Scottsbluff, and Edward Nemeth of Lincoln, whose terms have expired. The new Commissioners were in attendance at the December 1999 Commission meeting. Former Commissioner Nemeth contributed articles to the newsletter, and was an active contributor to the Fair Housing Month Poster Contest. Former Commissioner Castinado assisted in the interpretation of materials distributed to the Spanish-speaking public.

Seven members presently serve as Commissioners. Each is appointed by the governor, and serve three year terms. Commissioners make decisions by majority vote, on cases filed under the following Nebraska discrimination laws: Act Prohibiting Unjust Discrimination in Employment Because of Age; Equal Pay Act; Nebraska Fair Housing Act; and the Act Providing Equal Enjoyment of Public Accommodations. The Commission meetings are held every third Friday of the month, at various locations throughout the state, and are open to the public.

The Omaha downtown mall was filled October 7, 1999 as people assembled for the "Stop the Hate Vigil". Organized in part by the NEOC, the event was attended by representatives from federal, state, and local government; organizations, agencies, public and private sectors, all representing the interests of victims of hate crimes. The vigil was part of a nationwide observance. There is an increase in the number of hate crimes directed against persons because of their race, color, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, or because of their disability, church affiliation, religion, faith, or moral and ethical convictions.

Governor Mike Johanns signed the state’s resolution against hate crimes. Omaha Councilman Marc Kraft presented a stop the hate resolution from Omaha Mayor Hal Daub, and Pastor Joanne Richmond from Blair College read NEOC’s resolution signed by its seven commissioners. NEOC Executive Director Alfonza Whitaker read "Ten Ways to Fight Hate". The list of organizers included NCCJ’s Jane Batt and MadDads. Supporters included the Mexican-American Commission, the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women, and Nebraska Urban League. Presentations included Reverend John H. Wittington of Mount Nebo Baptist Church, Executive Director Kelly Paris and Erven McSwain with Omaha Human Relations Department, Weysan Dun with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Professor David Lopez with Creighton University, North Christ Child Director Reverend Darryl Eure, and Reverend Everett Reynolds, President of the local NAACP.

The Mutual of Omaha Choir was given special thanks for the inspirational music and time they allotted to the event. Everyone in attendance had one objective: to raise awareness of the seriousness of hate crimes, to recognize victims, and to promote tolerance.

Commissioner Ed Nemeth, Executive Director Al Whitaker, and Public Information Director Ed Mims attended the Hate Crimes Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana November 15-18, 1999.

Whereas hate crimes derive from fear, with individuals seeking power and control over what is feared;

Whereas hate crimes are directed against individuals because of their immutable characteristics, such as race, color, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity; or because of their disability, church affiliation, religion, faith, or moral and ethical convictions;

Whereas, the intent of hate crimes is to rob victims of their human dignity and inalienable rights through degradation and infliction of bodily harm;

Whereas, the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission abhors hate crimes in any form and will work to vigorously support the Nebraska law against hate crimes,

Whereas, vigils against hate crimes will be conducted across the nation on October 7, 1999 to remember victims of violence and raise awareness of the destruction caused by hate crimes;

Whereas, the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission acknowledges our moral responsibility and civil obligation to take a leading effort to "Stop the Hate";

Now, therefore be it resolved by the Commissioners and Staff of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission that we, without hesitation, join in the "Stop the Hate Vigil" on October 7, 1999. Be it further resolved that the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission will continue its vigil against discrimination wherever it is perpetrated in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The NEOC has a new web site. Previously, our web site was maintained by Commissioner Ed Nemeth. It is now developed and maintained in office by own own webmaster. Using commissioner Nemeth’s site as a springboard, we have a whole new look and a whole new address. You can find us at: http://www.nol.org/home/NEOC. Please note, the NEOC must be capitalized in that URL.

The site offers the text of the laws, informational brochures, and commission meeting agendas and minutes. If you have a question, check our "Frequently Asked Questions" section. Are you searching for other human relations sites? We have a Links page to help guide you. If there is something you’d like to see on the site, please let us know. We’re here to help you.

What is there now is only the beginning. There is still a lot of information to add to the web site. Additionally, every month will bring new commission meeting minutes and agendas, as well as public hearing information. If you would like to be informed when any significant change is made to the site, e-mail: Souliere@NEOC.state.ne.us.

The Commission has prepared three of its brochures in Spanish. The description of the "Complaint Process" is now found under the title, "El Estado de Nebraska Comision de la Igualdad de Oportunidad El Proceso De Quejas". The "In a Capsule" brochure, which explains the areas of discrimination and the handling of a charge of discrimination, is found under, "La NEOC En Capsula". "Fair Housing Complaint Process" is also found under, "Vivienda Justa El Proceso de Quejas". Copies of these brochures are available to the public at no cost.

Professor Larson states it was clear to him the area of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") was an area rich in complexity. He explains there is also a credible demand for resolving employment disputes before they get to litigation. He is currently the Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution program at Hamline University School of Law, which is ranked 6th in the nation of law schools. Larson created the title for the "ADR" journal and presented it to CCH Incorporated, which publishes the labor law journal. The journal, published quarterly, from the time of its inception has sought articles from practitioners and academics. He has posted announcements and handed out flyers for articles sought. Each issue features five to six columns on such topics as ethics, arbitration, mediation, technology to advance "ADR", court developments, and legislative and regulatory developments. The first issue of the journal was published Spring 1999.

Gretchen Eure

Patti Hoage

Gretchen Eure

Manager of the Year

Patti Hoage

Employee of the Year

The State of Nebraska’s Employee Recognition Program honored two staff members of the NEOC. On October 26, 1999, Governor Mike Johanns shook hands with Gretchen Eure and Patti Hoage.

Gretchen Eure is a Manager in the Omaha office. She supervises seven investigators as Unit Director, and also is the Director of Public Education and Outreach. Gretchen has done an excellent job in expanding and enhancing the agency’s education and outreach program. Under her leadership, the education and outreach program has been developed to cover the entire state. Gretchen is extremely dedicated and has always done a quality job for the agency. She is always willing to share what she knows with the other staff and public, has proven to be an effective member of the management team, and has undertaken many projects. In addition, Gretchen arranged the Fair Housing Poster contest that required excessive hours and a lot of dedication. When asked about future activities, she responded, "Based on the number of requests we have for training, we believe that we are promoting anti-discrimination attitudes and behavior of the people in this state."

Patti Hoage is an Intake Interviewer in the Lincoln office. Patti has worked for the Commission consistently for the last seven years and has excelled in the performance of her duties. One of Patti’s strengths is effectively interviewing difficult people that other intake interviewers are unable to handle. She has done an excellent job in drafting discrimination charges, assisting and providing guidance to other intake interviewers, and is highly regarded by all staff. She is a tremendous asset to the office.

For agency staff, this period reflected some internal changes as, charges of discrimination continued to be filed at a rapid pace, and closed at an even pace. The Commission has hired several new employees, and promoted one employee.

Kathryn Amaya was previously an intake interviewer, and has been promoted to EOC Investigator. There were four new investigators hired during this same period Jennifer West has been hired as EOC Investigator in the Lincoln office. Jeff White has been hired as EOC Investigator in the Scottsbluff office. Scott Redel and Cortney Peters are the two new EOC Investigators in the Omaha office.

In addition to the new investigators, the Commission hired Gayle Choyce as a new Intake Interviewer for the Omaha office. The Commission provides ongoing training to its staff. New staff receive internal and external training in discrimination laws. All staff participate in training throughout the year. In December 1999, EEOC staff member Marilee Archer provided training on Americans with Disabilities Act to NEOC staff, as well as from Omaha Human Relations Department and Lincoln Commission on Human Rights at the lovely Mahoney State Park.

Greyhound Lines Inc., will improve the availability and quality of accessible bus service for persons with disabilities, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

The out-of-court agreement resolves a number of complaints filed with the Justice Department alleging that Greyhound drivers and employees violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against passengers with disabilities. Although the complaints alleged a range of problems, most involved the denial of boarding assistance, injuries sustained while passengers were physically carried on and off buses, or other mistreatment. While current Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations permit carrying, 1998 regulations require Greyhound and other intercity bus companies to provide lift-equipped bus service in the future. These rules do not apply to Greyhound until October 2001.

Under today’s agreement, Greyhound will minimize the need for carrying passengers with disabilities by phasing in accessible bus service in three stages, beginning two years before lift-equipped service is required by DOT rules. "Intercity bus service is often the only affordable form of transportation for many people with disabilities," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Today’s agreement opens new roads for accessible travel which, historically, have not been made available."

Under the agreement, Greyhound will phase in accessible bus service in three ways, including:

Office of Special Counsel Settles Document Abuse Cases Against Two California Employers

Two California employers today agreed to resolve separate allegations that they discriminated against individuals they thought were non-citizens, the Justice Department announced.

Both out-of-court agreements resolve allegations brought by the Civil Rights Division’s Office of Special counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC), alleging the Macy’s West, a division of Federated Department Stores based in Newark, California, and Valet Parking Service of Culver City, California, violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). As a result of the agreements, both companies have agreed to train personnel responsible for completing and verifying I-9 forms, pay back salary to the individuals and post notices concerning their responsibilities under INA. In addition, Valet Parking Service has agreed to pay civil penalties to the federal government.

The case against Macy’s West began in June 1999, when Sacha Nincevic, a permanent resident, filed a charge with OSC alleging that he was terminated by the company because the resident alien card he provided was expired. Alien cards do not need to be reverified by employers because permanent residents remain work-authorized even if their resident alien cards expire. Under the terms of the agreement, Macy’s will pay Nincevic $10,900 in back pay and reinstate him to a comparable position to the one he lost.

The case against Valet Parking Service began in March 1999, when Fernando Alvardo, a resident alien who was hired as Valet’s new human resources director, filed a complaint with OSC alleging that the company continually insisted that he produce an INS-issued document for employment eligibility verification purposes, even through he had already produced a valid driver’s license and social security card as proof of employment eligibility.

An investigation by OSC found that the Valet had been regularly requesting INS-issued documents from non-citizens while allowing citizens to produce the documents of their choice for completion of the I-9 form. The document abuse provision of the INA makes it illegal for employers with four or more employees to request more or different documents than are required to establish identity and eligibility to work in the U.S. By law, all employees, regardless of nationality or immigration status, may present any acceptable document or combination of documents from a list of acceptable documents.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, alleges that William Johnson, the Sheriff of Ashtabula County, who is named in his official capacity, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Celecia E. Dibble and other women by refusing to hire or even consider hiring them for corrections officer and corrections officer/medical officer positions because of their sex. The lawsuit also alleges that the sheriff refused to hire or consider hiring Dibble in retaliation for her charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Ashtabula County Board of commissioners, which appropriates funds for the operation of the Sheriffs’ Department, is also named as a defendant in the complaint.

"The Justice Department is committed to eradicating sex discrimination in law enforcement, " said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights. "No individual should be denied the opportunity to work solely because of his or her gender."

The Justice Department conducted an investigation of the charge after receiving a referral from the EEOC, which received Dibble’s complaint n 1996. In her charge with the EEOC, Dibble alleged that she had volunteered as an Auxiliary Deputy Sheriff on the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Patrol but was denied hire for a full-time position as a corrections officer/medical officer because she is a woman. The EEOC referred the case to the Justice Department after finding reasonable cause to believe that the allegations of discrimination were true and efforts to conciliate the matter failed.

The Justice Departments lawsuit asks the court to enter an order requiring the sheriff and the county to provide appropriate remedial relief to Dibble and other women who have suffered loss as a result of the alleged discrimination and to take other appropriate measure to overcome the effects of discrimination.

A person who believes s/he has been treated unfairly, and the unfair treatment was based in unlawful discrimination, has a right to file a charge of discrimination. A person who files a charge (Complainant) is protected from illegal retaliation from the entity (Respondent) the person has filed against. When the charge is received and served through the intake units of the NEOC, the Respondent is notified that retaliation is strictly prohibited. There are misconceptions about what retaliation is, and because of the misconceptions, entities served with the charges may make mistakes which imperil their business. This is despite the fact that the business was reminded to not retaliate.

Retaliation discrimination is a provision in each discrimination law enforced in the state. Retaliation is a "protected class" category the same as national origin, sex, age, etc., and the elements of such a charge are also similar. A charge of retaliation discrimination would describe adverse action(s) resulting from participation in charges of discrimination, or opposition to illegal activity.

Retaliation discrimination’s two main components are participation and opposition.

Under the appropriate sections of each of the laws enforced, the participation clause generally states that a person who has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the Act is protected from retaliation. "Participation" includes coverage of a broad range of activities which may be catalysts for the discrimination. Examples of participation include:

Opposition is a protected activity when a person has a reasonable and good faith belief they oppose a practice that is a violation of state or federal laws. Protected activity would include:

"Opposition" as a protected activity may not include complaining outside of the chain of command, or willful destruction of a Respondent’s business.

The NEOC has investigated many complaints of discrimination. Typical descriptions of discrimination based in retaliation include:

In addition to the above, Respondents are prohibited from retaliating against a person for filing a charge even if the person was wrong on the merits of the charge. Basically, there are two reasons for this. First, the charging party may not have had access to factual information at the time the charge was filed. An example of this is a person who believed s/he was discriminated against due to her or his national origin, but evidence supports the reason was due to attendance infractions. A second reason is the charging party may have been mistaken regarding what was lawful and what was unlawful. An example of this is the person genuinely objected to performing an accounting procedure believing the procedure to be unlawful at the time the charge is filed. During an investigation, they discover that the procedure was not unlawful.

This discussion of retaliation is not comprehensive. Additional information can be obtained through the NEOC office.

* (Such as in the case of an employee of a utility company engaging in public protest against the utility company as a consumer.)

"Our Constitution and our national conscience demand that every American be accorded dignity and respect, receive the same treatment under the law, and enjoy equal opportunity." - Colin Powell

The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission welcomes your input about the NEOC UPDATE. We cannot publish or respond to queries about particular cases that come before the Commission.