Monday, August 30, 2010
Little Rock Schools Little Rock schools in discrimination suit
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Late Friday, John W. Walker filed a race discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 19 plaintiffs against the Little Rock School District over practices in the maintenance and operations department. It oversees custodial services.
The lawsuit claims that the department facility is functionally segregated, with a white side housing 47 to 50 workers, a black side housing a similar number and an all-white administrative sector. It further alleges that the "white sector" is well-kept and air conditioned, in "obvious" contrast to the black sector, which is said to be poorly maintained, un-air conditioned and with hand-me-down equipment.
The suit says the history of the department is that supervisors are white. Two black foremen supervise racially identifiable work crews. Individual plaintiffs allege discriminatory personnel decisions in promotion, pay and other decisions.
The lawsuit seeks a reorganization of the department, including preferences for plaintiffs who've been passed over in previous decisions. and back pay for some. It also asks, among others, for a prohibition against allowing white clerical employees "supervising black persons outside their line of progression" and an end to single-race work crews.
Walker says the suit is over a long-festering situation, but he acknowledges it is symbolic as well. The School District is led by a black superintendent and a majority black school board. Black people should be held to the same standards of non-discrimination as white people, Walker said.
The suit also has obvious political elements.
The lawsuit alleges that Superintendent Linda Watson, who is black, has long been aware of the problem in the department as have two black board members, Micheal Daugherty and Diane Curry, who once worked in the maintenance department, then known as plant services. The lawsuit says that Curry even ran for School Board in 1999 on a promise to address disparities in the department.
Watson is now in the final year of her contract as superintendent. Curry and Daugherty were on the losing end of a 4-3 vote to extend that contract. Daugherty is in a re-election contest this year with Michael Nellums, whom Walker is backing. The lawsuit, inevitably, will be an issue in that race, which has had various prominent black figures choosing sides on whether Watson should stay or go as superintendent. The voters in the zone that will choose between Nellums and Daugherty are majority black.
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Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
If the LRSD is so stupid to allow this alleged discrimination to happen, then they all need to be publicly hung.
If Mr. Walker is forwarding this witch hunt for political gain, he should be disbarred and sentenced to watch Glenn Beck reruns for 20 years.
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Oh Lordy, here we go again. I think the entire LRSD and PCSSD should be disbanded and de-certified and fumigated and in-spected and re-jected and then start all over again.
Does John Walker have any law practice to speak of beyond suing Little Rock schools? At this point he reminds me of Orly Taitz in his single-issue practice.
In this day and age this sounds absolutely preposterous.
In employment the workers that are dependable, show up, work while they are there and keep focused on the best interests of the employer are the ones kept and or promoted.
I don't give a rat's about anything else. As a supervisor the only concern is making my life as pleasant as possible. I do not pick based on sex, religion, national origin or any other factor.
If you are dependable and concientious I am free to worry about the other parts of my job.
I doubt anyone keeps dead wood because of an US/THEM thing and only a fool would not do all they can to keep a performer.
If there is any validity about this lawsuit, heads should roll.
See see see I told you Little Rock is a racists dump, but you continue to scoff. So take that.
This sort of thing occurs most everywhere one looks, especially in the south. Those that have never seen it are quite common in these parts. Walker is one of the few attorneys experienced in this field that is not afraid of the establishment. It is fortunate that someone is still willing to defend the constitutional rights of American citizens; the SCOTUS appears only interested state & corporate rights.
“I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet.”
Rosa Parks
I'm certain there is a way, but does anybody know the total amount of money John Walker has been paid by the State of Arkansas and Little Rock School District as a result of these lawsuits he files?
Prouster, I'm nearly certain Mr. Walker has collected enough money from the State and the School Districts that he would not have to worry about maintaining a law practice.
Just sayin!
Arky
Mr. Walker has made a career out of suing the LRSD and its minions. The amount of money he has huckstered would educate a lot of children.
Mr. Walker wouldn't win in court of the people in power had been doing their jobs correctly. Sometimes it takes a big stick, other times you have to get in to their wallets for them to see the light and do what is right. And sometimes, like PCSSD, you just have to replace a few heads as those in power are past their learning ability. If conditions are as the lawsuit says, somebody isn't thinking too well.
Sounds to me as if the people of Little Rock needs to come over to the conservative side of the state (Fort Smith, Fayetteville, etc) to study how to treat people equally and get along in their school district.
I am so tired of my tax dollars going to this corrupt part of the school system...
Walker is the most observant and qualified person to address the issues that continue to bombard minorities in Arkansas. I know personally that his practice is vast and the LRSD case is just one of maybe 500 pending lawsuits that he is involved in. The money he has made from Little Rock School District is paltry compared to the districts lawyers. I assure the public that his good fortune has not come from suing school districts. Arkansas should be proud to have one that is attempting to bring some real consciousness to the racial problems that exist within our state.
I wonder what the school district attorney have made in the past ten years of the lawsuit. I am willing to bet that it it would fill up the cowboys new stadium by far......
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