City Light will pay $125,000 to settle discrimination suit
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Seattle City Light has settled a racial-discrimination lawsuit for $125,000, the latest in a series of similar cases the utility has settled or lost in jury trials. The settlement was announced Friday by Jack Sheridan, the attorney for Juan Rodriguez, a Hispanic truck driver who said he was harassed and denied promotions while white co-workers received preferential treatment. City Attorney Tom Carr issued a written statement saying City Light did not admit any wrongdoing, but made a business decision “in the best interests of the utility and its ratepayers” to resolve the complaint by Rodriguez, who still works for City Light. Sheridan said Rodriguez accepted the settlement in the King County Superior Court case so he could move on with his life. “It’s stressful and expensive to take a case to trial and he proved his point. He can hold his head high in the workplace and say, ‘I was a victim of discrimination,’ ” Sheridan said. The payment marks the fourth time in a decade City Light has settled a racial-discrimination case or had a jury rule against it in such a case. Those four lawsuits have cost the city-owned utility more than $1 million. City Light also faced complaints in the 1970s and early 1980s alleging discrimination based on gender, race and ideology. More : seattletimes.nwsource.com |