By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
UPDATE: Worker says United Way retaliated against her for complaining about workplace discrimination
GRAND RAPIDS – A Heart of West Michigan United Way worker says she was denied advancement in the agency because she is black.
Benita Jasper alleged in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that the agency retaliated against her after she complained about race discrimination. She contended that a “pattern of discrimination” cost her a higher-paying job that went to a white man hired into the agency.
A former worker, Dana Lovelady-Hoyt, who is white, also is suing because she said she suffered retaliation after she supported Jasper’s claims.
Attorney Victor Mastromarco Jr., representing both women, said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that Lovelady-Hoyt “had been subjected to a racially hostile environment and that she was disciplined and constructively discharged in retaliation for her complaints of discrimination.”
In the suit, he said the EEOC proposed the United Way pay Jasper $91,000 in back pay, $250,000 in punitive damages and pay all non-management black workers a total of $800,000.
But Bert Bleke, interim president, said the EEOC has since backed off that proposal, and has closed the case.
“We’re disappointed it has come to this, and we do really feel strongly that it has no merit, and that will be borne out,” Bleke said.
“Our position is, there really is no merit in either of the lawsuit.”
Bleke said no organization is perfect, but “I have seen no inkling of discrimination based on race, color or creed and so on.”
According to a 2008 report, seven minority workers at United Way attended a meeting with outside counselors, who determined that the workers had lost trust in United Way leadership, and were not hopeful that the agency would become more racially and ethnically diverse, the lawsuit said.
To Read The Original Article Go To:
https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2010/12/heart_of_west_michigan_united.html