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Topic: Genesee County Prosecutor and Affirmative Action

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

ERNEST WINGATE III V GENESEE COUNTY :: 1996 :: Michigan ...
https://law.justia.com/.../michigan/court-of-appeals.../19960813-c175590-0043-175590-...
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Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:41 am; edited 1 time in total
Post Thu Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

The case was before White,P.J. and Smolenki, and R.R. Lamb
White wrote the dissenting opinion

White's opinion was that a "reasonable juror could have found that race was a factor in one or more of the alleged adverse employment actions of defendants toward plaintiff and therefore defendants motions were properly denied."

Plaintiffs complaint alleged intentional discrimination on the basis of race.

Gregory Averyhardt was the affirmative action officer at the time. He testified that although the county had an affirmative action plan since 1976 that the Prosecutor, Bob Weiss, resisted the plan and believed it did not apply to his office.

Averyhart also testified how it wa against the principles of the affirmative action plan to hire an unqualified minority .
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:09 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Averyhardt was asked hi opinion about the an African American brought in with deficiencies and there was no real plan for them to succeed.

"you hire unqualified people on the basi of just race your'e going to set your self up for circumstances, a failed program, your'e gonna hurt the individual when you have to let them go.Your're, you're gonna cost cot money to the County because you're wasting dollars, training moey and more. You're not able to properly train the individual or it's ut gonna, it's not gonna work out. You can't do it and say you're doing Affirmative Action, you really are not doing Affirmative Action. You're doing no justice to a person when you hire them in those circumstance."
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:26 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Averyhardt testified there was a second African American male who was terminated in his probationary period, prior to Wingate. Weiss denied the authority of Averyhardt to hold a hearing after the employee filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Averyhart was asked if there were other instances in which Weiss did not acknowledge the authority of Averyhart.

An African American female sought and applied for a promotion. The prosecutor's office used a a document in the selection process that had never been approved by the personnel office. "the document probe into security and confidentiality matter and included some questions relating to finances and banking." The prosecutor's office denied requests to release the document until after Averyhardt contacted the personnel director.

Averyhardt was unaware of Wingate's hiring until they had a talk and Wingate complained of no training for his job. The termination was learned of by forms that are released by the department. Wingate filed a formal complaint and the Prosecutor's office prevented a hearing . Past practice allowed special classes to maintain a position or seek a promotion.
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:49 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Weiss testified that at levels other than clerical, minorities were under represented in both hi office an the Victim' Assistance Program. One reason Weiss hired Wingate was because Wingate was a minority. Evidence was presented that Weiss was aware of the plaintiff's deficiencies and ignored the deficiencies when they became apparent on the job. Weis then terminated the employee without notifying plaintiff superior Lucille Bigelow, Weiss testified that a probationary employee could be terminated at will.

Bigelow, a Prosecutor's office employee since 1985 , testified that plaintiff met the posted requirements. However when he was one of nine candidates interviewed that he did not answer questions presented to all of the candidates. Her testimony was that he was unable to understand the language of the questions. She communicated her concerns about his deficiencies to Weiss. After plaintiff was hired she communicated her concern through Bob Pickell. Bigelow testified she never sought what was available to help him nor did she refer the issues to Affirmative Action office.
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:09 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Plaintiff testified that after hiring in 1987, he was given a booklet about the Victim's Assistance Program but not a description of his job duties.College students taught him how to send out subpoenas by mail to victims about their court dates. He was sent to court without training and was disciplined for holding a victim's hand because she asked after her testimony. He also spoke to a juror because he was not told to avoid that area of the court building.

Plaintiff was unaware that he was an affirmative action hire and that Bigelow had opposed his hiring. He stated he felt intimidated by Bigelow and felt threatened each day going to work.

"While the evidence is certainly susceptible of a more benign interpretation, and I do not intend to convey that I would have interpreted the evidence in the same manner as did the jury, when the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiff, as is required, a reasonable jury would have concluded that Weiss was predispose to discriminate on the basis of race and acted on that disposition. I would therefore affirm."
Helene N White
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:28 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

"The parties agreed to a general verdicit form as to liability and damages. The $25,000 jury verdict, which was less than the amount of plaintiff's wage los at the time of trial, is some indication that the jury rejected plaintiff's claims of entitlement to damages for failure to train and wrongful termination, but concluded that he suffered emotional race discrimination while employed and wa entitled to mental distress damages."
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:37 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Arthur A. Busch defeated Weiss in January of 1993, Genesee County Sheriff Deputy Tina Fielder requested the Prosecutor's Office statistics on Busch's effort to hire minorities an female. As of February 2, 1994, Busch had hired 18 individuals.

The breakdown of new hires:
white males 5
white females 5
Black males 2
Black females 5
Hispanic males 1

The total minority percentage of those hired is 44% and the total percentage of females hired is 55.5%. In one year usch doubled he number of minorities in the office.

The percentage of minorities in the office is 25,3%, later 28%,. Busch touted these figures as the highest in over 9 years
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:54 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

BUsch added that of the eight minorities hired, half were either attorneys or in professional positions. He concluded that he would be proud to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus and Fielder.
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:58 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Tracy Collier-Nix was the Affirmative Action Officer when Busch received a notice that he was now in compliance as of December 31,1993 in comparison to the rates of minorities and female in the Geneee County labor market (Area Relevant Labor Market or ARLM)

Dan Kildee was the County Board Chairman, Ken Hardin was Governmental Operations Committee Chair, Willa Hawkins and Vera Riaon were on the Affirmative Action Subcommittee.
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:07 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

When Corporation Counsel was rolled into the Prosecutor's Office, Celeste Bell was no longer the Counties only Black female Department Head. She has been named a judge and the word is her replacement is a competent and highly qualified white female.

It would be interesting to find out Leyton's hiring statistics. He was given several Special Prosecutors by AG Schuette. AG Schuette has hired the Prosecutor's son,Adam Leyton as an attorney in his Detroit division. When a prominent state legislator was asked to help in an investigation involving campaign finances, the response was that Leyton and Schuette were too close for any investigation to occur,
Post Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:25 am 
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