State of Iowa back in court over hiring practices
Source: Omaha World Herald-AP
DES MOINES (AP) — The State of Iowa will again defend itself against a suit alleging that a culture of discrimination and retaliation existed against black workers at Iowa Workforce Development.
The lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial today with jury selection, was filed on behalf of Tereasa Jefferson. It is the second case to stem from a class-action lawsuit claiming that up to 6,000 blacks were denied state jobs due to a pattern of discrimination in state government hiring practices. After a judge dismissed that case, four individual class members fired from their jobs at Iowa Workforce Development moved ahead with their claims.
In the first case, a jury last month awarded Dorothea Polk $130,000, finding that agency officials retaliated against her after she filed a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. The jury did not find that race discrimination was proved, however.
Jefferson will allege that the state discriminated against her.
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