The EEOC Process
A lawyer for nearly three dozen black police officers told us last night that several clients got a letter from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to Ken Free, who at the time had not seen the letter directly, the feds say they found evidence that the city of Greensboro may have discriminated against the officers. He wasn't sure if all his clients received the same notice or if select officers were found to be possible victims of discrimination. The story link is here.
In legal language, there was "reasonable cause" to believe discrimination took place under former Chief David Wray.
What comes next? Here's a link to the EEOC page that describes its investigative process. And here are a few things to note:
1.) The city declined an offer to mediate the officers' claims. Had it done so, according to the EEOC, there would have been no admission of liability.
2.) The federal government has the option of suing Greensboro on behalf of the officers should city officials not agree to conciliation, a process where both sides sit down to work out a remedy.
3.) And if the EEOC chooses not to pursue the case in court, it will give officers a "notice of right to sue." It will be up to each patrolman to decide how to proceed.
How much will this cost taxpayers? That's hard to answer. It depends on the city's next move. If city officials refuse to sit for conciliation, they risk paying huge legal fees and any money a court finds it liable to compensate officers. The court may also rule that the evidence collected by the EEOC does not, in fact, constitute discrimination. The city could prevail with nothing more than paying its own legal fees.
The city might decide to sit for conciliation. The trade-off is that it guarantees payments to the officers, and thus acknowledgment of liability. But the settlements could be less than what a court would order and it avoids a costly legal battle.
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