Pasadena Faces Bias Lawsuits : City Hall: Two former administrators claim racial and sexual discrimination. A current employee is considering similar action.
PASADENA — Deweylene (Dee) Henry and Eugene Stevenson, two black former city administrators, have filed discrimination lawsuits against the city.
Meanwhile, Philip Dunn, a current city employee, whose claim against the city on similar grounds was rejected May 9, is also considering legal action.
Henry’s lawsuit, filed Thursday in Pasadena Superior Court, alleges racial and sexual discrimination by several city employees whose actions forced Henry to take a leave of absence from the city, said her attorney, Cameron Stewart.
A two-year city employee, Henry headed the Employment Development and Community Services Department but was relieved of her job in October last year. Her salary was frozen at $70,000, and she was reassigned to another post that constituted a demotion, Stewart said.
Stevenson’s lawsuit, filed Sept. 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that racial discrimination by the city forced the 12-year city veteran to resign early this year, said his attorney, Margo Bouchet-Collier.
Stevenson worked as acting director of the city’s Health Department but was passed over for the permanent slot and later for a lower-ranking position as health officer as well, Bouchet-Collier said.
The attorney also represents Dunn and said she will file a lawsuit on his behalf within the next two weeks.
Stevenson and Dunn complained that the city instituted a rarely used assessment panel to test a half-dozen job candidates for the health officer position. Dunn placed fifth and Stevenson sixth in the rankings, she said. After the whites who scored higher all turned down city offers of employment, the city failed to offer Dunn or Stevenson the job. Instead, a new exam was given, Bouchet-Collier said.
Deputy City Atty. Lawrence Newberry said the city has not yet been notified of the lawsuits and declined to comment on pending litigation.
Ramon Curiel, the city’s Human Resources director, has said in the past that the employees’ situations evolved from “instances of natural personnel activity.â€
However, an independent consultant’s report released in May found that minorities in city employment were disciplined more often than whites, received smaller merit pay increases and were less likely to be promoted from acting positions to permanent employment.
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