A Jury ruled on April 17 that the state of Iowa’s employment policies have not discriminated employees and job applicants based on race. The said case was in fact closely monitored by civil rights activists.
After reviewing Iowa’s largest lawsuit of its kind filed by approximately 6,000 African-Americans, Iowa District Court Judge Robert Blink resolved the case in his ruling by dismissing the complainants’ racial discrimination claim.
In the lawsuit, the complainants are requesting the city of Iowa to pay millions for lost wages and other damages. They further claim that the city of Iowa changes its hiring and promotion decisions which brought an adverse effect on their part.
During the litigation, the complainants called several experts to attest that blacks usually have lower chances of being interviewed, hired, promoted and given salary increase and employment benefits.
However, in Blink’s ruling, it stated that the complainants failed to provide reasonable proof that the state managers subjected its employees, as well as job applicants, to racial discrimination in the workplace.
The said lawsuit, which was referred to as the largest lawsuit of its kind against the civil service system of the government, strategically tested a legal theory that social science and statistics alone can mount widespread employment discrimination.
A spokeswoman from the complainants’ party said that the complainants are reviewing the court’s decision to determine whether or not they have the right to file for an appeal.
Figures show that the state of Iowa’s workforce is only comprised of 2.9 percent blacks while the rest are all white. Hence, one of the complainants’ lawyer is praying that the judge will consider taking a bold action that would make Iowa a leading state in providing fair employment opportunities without any prejudice.
Apparently, complainants need to understand that informing the whole world that they suffered from racial discrimination in the workplace is not sufficient. Necessarily, they still have to prove that the employer violated either the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or the Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA) in order to achieve a favorable court decision.
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