Annual Report 1999/2000

The Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act is a labor law approved by our legislature on August 3, 1965. Other amendments were subsequently made to the Act, the last occurring July 1994.

The existence of this Act, and other anti-discrimination laws, is a testament to this state’s intention to provide everyone with an equal opportunity to work, to obtain the shelter of choice, and to enjoy the services rendered to the public.

The Nebraska Fair Employment Act established the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission. Now, with a legacy of 45 years of enforcement, the annual report is at once a statistical and meritorious report of NEOC’s activities in the area of civil rights.

Morals may be legislated, to some degree, by the quality of the law, the enforcement of the law, and through the application of the law by employers, landlords, and business owners. The NEOC has been more than a watchdog for the effects of the law. NEOC has been the entity to receive, investigate, and render decisions on charges filed with our office. With ample resources provided to a trained staff, the NEOC continues to do its work efficiently and thoroughly.

For complete descriptions and profiles of activities from the annual report, please refer to our web page (www.nol.org/home/NEOC). However, this newsletter will represent some of the information most often asked about our activities. These areas include number of charges filed by statute, protected classes, and issues. We will also feature the top ten business types against which charges are filed, the top ten counties charges are filed in, and monetary and non-monetary relief obtained for the charging parties through settlements, conciliations, and enforcement agreements.

In addition, we will review the Commission’s outreach activities, which includes training provided, public forums, publications, and contests.

Basis of charges filed	FEPA	EQ Pay	AGE	Housing	Public Accom.	Totals
Race/Color	271	0	0	24	14	309
Sex	341	37	0	2	1	381
Age	0	0	222	0	0	222
Religion	20	0	0	0	0	20
National Origin/Ancestry	68	0	0	1	8	77
Disability	227	0	0	33	0	260
Marital Status	1	0	0	0	0	1
Familial Status	0	0	0	7	0	7
Retaliation	84	0	14	5	1	104
Whistleblower retaliation	19	0	0	0	0	19
Totals	1031	37	236	72	24	1400

FEPA - Fair Employment Practice Act (race, color, national origin, disability, religion, marital status, sex, retaliation, whistle-blower)

EQ Pay - Equal Pay Act of Nebraska (sex, both male and female; retaliation)

Age - Act Prohibiting Unjust Discrimination in Employment Because of Age (40-70 years of age; retaliation)

Housing - Nebraska Fair Housing Act (race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, familial status, retaliation)

Public Accom. - Nebraska Civil Rights Act of 1969 Public Accommodations (race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry)

Type of Business	Number
General government	100
Miscellaneous Manufacturers	62
Miscellaneous Business Services	57
Eating, Drinking Places	51
Miscellaneous Services	51
Real Estate Agents and Managers	50
Nursing, Personal Care Facilities	49
Colleges and Universities	45
Hospitals	42
Health and Allied Services	31
Total of 1400 charges:	539 (39%)

Fiscal Year 99/00
ISSUES	Number	Percent
Hire	124	9%
Promote	103	7%
Harassment	218	16%
Sex Harassment	86	6%
Pay	82	6%
Benefits	34	2%
Demotion	23	2%
Discharge	466	33%
Constructive Discharge	51	4%
Failure to Train	5	0%
Conditions of Employment	129	9%
Employment Agency	0	0%
Labor Union	1	0%
Sell/Show House	0	0%
Rent/Show House	4	0%
Eviction	8	1%
Terms of Occupancy	51	4%
Blockbusting	0	0%
Steering	0	0%
Redlining	0	0%
House/Finance-Credit	3	0%
Public Accommodation	4	0%
Public Services	8	1%

Top Ten Counties for Charges Filed
Douglas	612
Lancaster	330
Scotts Bluff	52
Sarpy	33
Adams	28
Hall	27
Madison	25
Gage	23
Dodge	23
Platte	19
Total of Top Ten	1172
Total charges filed	1400

*B.F.O.Q. Defense...

"Sorry, this is a commercial for hair products, Mr. Jordan."

*Bona Fide Occupational Qualification

Picture by Lawrence Garrett

Charges not taken	Fiscal Year	1999/2000
Reason for non-filing	Lincoln	Omaha	Scottsbluff	Totals
Respondent has too few employees	51	49	11	111
Allegations outside the Statute of Limitations	18	31	4	53
Complainant had no standing or basis to file	525	343	88	956
Declined to file	273	166	21	460
Total	867 (55%)	589 (37%)	124 (8%)	1580 (100%)

Actions Taken	Fiscal Year	1999/2000
Actions Taken	Lincoln	Omaha	Scottsbluff	Totals
General Questions Answered	204	493	40	737
Employer Inquiries	323	232	9	564
Information Sent	397	251	27	675
Referred to an appropriate source of assistance	112	433	30	575
Other Actions	0	0	0	0
Complainant Inquiry	376	299	21	696
Totals	1412 (43%)	1708 (53%)	127 (4%)	3247 (100%)
Totals - All contacts	2279 (47%)	2297 (48%)	251 (5%)	4827 (100%)

Lady Liberty, and the laws, need your help. It has been said, "Compliance, not complacency."   Come to a Public Forum and find out why this is true for YOU.

Total Monetary Relief Obtained	1999/2000
Pre-determination Settlements	$245,105.00
Withdrawals with Settlement*	141, 446.00
Conciliation	269, 420.00***
Public Hearing	38, 235.00
Litigation**	0
TOTAL	$694,206.00

* The benefits on some of the Commission’s withdrawals with settlement are not known. The parties keep the terms of settlement confidential.

** These settlements were achieved by the Attorney General’s Office. The Commission does not conciliate reasonable cause age cases and does not forward unsuccessfully conciliated equal pay cases to public hearing. They are sent to the Attorney’s General’s Office to pursue civil action/litigation. This amount also includes housing cases which went to civil action.

***Conciliation Summary		1999/2000
Total conciliations Attempted		137
Successful		29
Unsuccessful (Forwarded to Hearing)		24
Unsuccessful (Forwarded to Civil Action-Housing)		5
Administratively Closed (see breakdown below)		79
	Withdrawal with Settlement	6
	Withdrawal without Settlement	1
	Failure of Complainant to Cooperate	0
	Failure to Accept Full Relief	0
	Unsuccessful - Dismissals	13
	Lack of Jurisdiction	2
	Complainant Filing in Court	57
	Bankruptcy of Respondent	0

Joe, the job is yours if you have the skills and qualifications to perform this work!

PUBLIC HEARINGS	99/00
Number Ordered	24
Number Held A full and complete hearing was completed	3
Number Carried Over	14
Orders Issued (Final)	19
Backlog	19

Complainant	Characteristics	Fiscal Year	1999/2000
RACE	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL	PERCENT
White	431	744	1175	61%
Black	239	198	437	23%
Hispanic	82	82	164	9%
Asian/Pacific Islander	7	15	22	1%
Native American / Alaskan Native	28	20	48	2%
Other	37	40	77	4%
TOTALS	824	1099	1923	100%

Mike, have we talked about safety hazards in the workplace?

PUBLIC HEARING DISPOSITION	99/00
Violation found	1
No Violation found	2
Settlement prior to hearing	3
Withdrawal with settlement	5
Withdrawal without settlement	4
Failure to Cooperate	0
Lack of jurisdiction	0
Adopted	0
Bankruptcy of Respondent	0
Other	4
Total Final Orders	19

“I suppose you know what equal pay for equal work means.”

Inside the NEOC

By Ed Mims

As part of the NEOC’s team building and maintenance program, at each quarterly all-staff meeting, the Executive Director recognizes employees with certificates. This practice has been found to be invaluable in letting employees know that they are appreciated.

There are various categories, but the categories we wish to highlight in this edition of the newsletter will be the Manager of the Year, the Employee of the Year, the Employee of the Quarter, and a new award relating to the employee who epitomizes the spirit, effort and attitude of the agency, called the “Director’s Award”.

The persons so honored are Barbara Albers as Manager of the Year. Barbara serves as a Unit Director in Lincoln. She contributes greatly to the overall operation of the agency.

Martina Thompson is honored as Employee of the Year. She is an EOC Investigator in the Omaha office who has developed skills to meet the challenging multi-faceted responsibilities her work involves. She is known for speaking and writing with precision and with the knowledge of current developments in the field.

Lucy Vogt in Scottsbluff is named as the Employee of the Quarter. She does an outstanding job in her position as Intake Interviewer in the Scottsbluff office. She not only conducts interviews of persons in the western part of Nebraska, but because of her bilingual skills she is frequently called upon to serve as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking individuals.

Paula-Reed Gardner is the first recipient of the “Director’s Award”. She is an EOC Investigator assigned to the Lincoln office, and was awarded for her exemplary attitude displayed in the performance of her daily duties and as a member of the NEOC. The award represents those values the agency stands for relative to neutrality, courtesy, and behavior.

The management and staff of the NEOC take great pride in congratulating our coworkers and wish them the very best in their continued endeavors.

Editorial

By Alfonza Whitaker, Executive Director

Alfonza Whitaker, Gretchen Eure, Ed Mims, and other staff members presented anti-discrimination material to many audiences during the 1999/2000 fiscal year. We received many questions about the NEOC case processing procedure. This article answers some of the most sought after information.

The NEOC agrees that many citizens who have filed a discrimination complaint with the agency received “no cause” determinations. The number of “no cause” determinations is not a result of a lack of a thorough investigation but rather a lack of direct, relevant and probative evidence to issues at hand.

“Any Complainant can file directly in state district court and bypass the NEOC entirely, if she or he chooses to do so.”

Last year the NEOC was contacted by over 6200 individuals who believed they had been discriminated against. Although many of those individuals may have been treated unfairly, only 1400 individuals were actually able to identify a discriminatory basis and meet the jurisdictional requirements for filing a discrimination charge.

The NEOC acknowledges that in the late 90’s there was a backlog of cases awaiting investigation due to the NEOC experiencing a 40% increase in the number of cases filed. Currently the NEOC has a 3-4 month back log. Filing with the NEOC is an administrative process and not intended to take the place of the court system. Any Complainant can file directly in state district court and bypass the NEOC entirely, if she or he chooses to do so. The federal statute which requires that an individual file with the federal EEOC, and wait 180 days, before allowing a federal lawsuit to be filed is the law that establishes jurisdiction of the court.

“Readers should be told that failure to file an administrative complaint will preclude them from filing a lawsuit in federal court.”

Readers should be told that failure to file an administrative complaint will preclude them from filing a lawsuit in federal court. The NEOC is available to assist in making sure that accurate information is disseminated. The NEOC is not a roadblock to justice.

Unlike many boards and commissions, the NEOC is a neutral fact finding agency and is not an advocate for those who have filed charges. While the NEOC respects the fact that those individuals who file complaints believe they have been discriminated against, in order for the Commission to determine reasonable cause, there must be evidence to show that the alleged discriminatory basis was the reason for the Respondent’s adverse actions. The Complainant’s belief is not sufficient to establish that. Every Complainant is offered the opportunity to present any evidence she or he may have. However, the Commission determines the level of investigation and in so doing determines which document and witness testimony is necessary to address each issue raised in the charge. In many cases, both Respondents and Complainants name witnesses who they feel will support their positions, yet the Commission will often times identify and interview “other” witnesses who are believed to have no stake in the matter and therefore can offer objective evidence. Furthermore, some of these witnesses may not have personal knowledge of relevant fact, their testimony may be cumulative, or the facts in question may already be admitted.

“...the NEOC is a neutral fact finding agency and is not an advocate for those who have filed charges.”

ll of our investigators are well-trained professionals who are serious about the mission of the NEOC, which is to eradicate discrimination. These investigators analyze the evidence and make recommendations to the Executive Director who, by statute, issues the determination on the charge. It is rare for the Executive Director to deviate from the investigator’s recommendation.

Department of Justice News                   

Justice Department Seeks to Intervene in Religious Discrimination

This article was released September 7, 2000,

The Justice Department today filed papers seeking to intervene in an employment discrimination case against a Michigan school district that allegedly failed to respond to complaints by a teacher who was harassed on the basis of his religion and national origin.

The proposed complaint, which must be approved for filing by the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, alleges that the L’Anse Area Schools subjected a Jewish teacher to religious and national origin harassment while he was employed by the school district, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The teacher’s complaint, which was originally lodged with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April 1999, alleges that Louis Owen has been the target of several incident of anti-Semitic harassment, including his classroom being vandalized with swastikas and anti-Semitic messages. Some messages included threats of death. Owen alleged that although he informed the school principal and the school system’s superintendent of the ongoing harassment, the district did not institute effective measures to remedy the harassment and keep it from recurring.

“Harassment and discrimination on the basis of religion or national origin is against the law and will not be tolerated”, said Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “The Department of Justice will act swiftly to hold employers responsible for permitting an atmosphere where this harassment is tolerated.”

In its proposed complaint, called a complaint intervention, the government alleges that the school district subjected Owen to a hostile work environment and did not act reasonably or appropriately in responding to the harassment. The government is seeking damages for the victim of the hostile work environment and relief to ensure that the school district implements effective anti-harassment policies in the future.

The teacher, a veteran of more that 30 years in the L’Anse Area Schools, later took an extended medical leave to deal with the effects of the harassment and has since left teaching in L’Anse. The teacher filed a private lawsuit in federal district court on March 27, 2000.

I esteem myself a good, persistent hater of injustice and oppression, but my resentment ceases when they cease, and I have no heart to visit upon the children the sins of their fathers. 

Frederick Douglass, 1881

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EEOC Sues Baymont Inns & Suites for Racial Discrimination

This article was released to the NEOC from the Denver EEOC Regional office.

Omaha, Nebraska - The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Marcus Corporation doing business in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Baymont Inns (“Baymont”), alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (“Title VII”).

The lawsuit alleges that Veola Davis (“Davis”), a Black American, was subjected to a racially hostile work environment because of her race. The lawsuit further alleges that several white employees, including two members of management, repeatedly harassed Davis by calling her names, such as “nigger” and other racial slurs. EEOC contends that even though Davis complained to Baymont’s employee care line, Baymont failed to take any corrective actions. The lawsuit further alleges that Davis was denied promotion because of her race, and was terminated.

The EEOC is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages as a monetary remedy for Davis. “More importantly...”, stated Joseph H. Mitchell, Regional Attorney of the Denver District Office, “...we’re asking the court to order Baymont Inns & Suites to implement effective policies prohibiting racial harassment and to institute equal employment training for all employees at Baymont Inns.” He added: “Ideally, we like to see companies develop good employment practices and procedures so that all employees can work in a harassment free environment.”

In addition to enforcing Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, the EEOC also enforces the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; Prohibitions Against Discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal sector; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; and Title I of the American with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments. Further information about the Commission is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.

The sins of the fathers are visited upon the heads of the children - but only if the children continue in the evil deeds of the fathers. 

Eldridge Cleaver, 1968

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.

Copyright 2000, NEOC

Newsletter Editor:  Gretchen Eure

Investigations Unit Director/Public Education and Outreach

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