New York City Settled Lawsuit

New York City has decided to pay $750,000 to an official of the Human Resources Administration in the city. The official, who happens to be black, filed a lawsuit stating that the commissioner of the agency, along with others in the administration, were retaliating against her because of complaints she made on the contract practices.

The settlement finally took place after Sandra Glaves-Morgan, the official who filed the lawsuit, won the trial based on discrimination and retaliation. In that trial, she was awarded with the amount of $420,000 as a means of compensation for damages. A vast majority of the damages, nearly $320,000, were due partly because of the commissioner of the agency, Robert Doar. In 2007, he was once praised by the Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

Galves-Morgan, a 55 year old woman, accused Doar of demoting her and cutting back on her salary. She also accused him of giving her duties to other people who were not even qualified for the particular duties but unlike her, they were white.

In the court on Monday, the lawyer who was representing her seemed to disagree with the city ove how important the jury’s finding were and what the settlement entails, in which the city will need to pay for her legal fees, which is estimated at roughly $720,000. Her lawyer, Samuel O. Maduegbuna, says that the city seems to only address the civil rights complaints after the complaints are being presented upon a jury.

A lawyer for the city, James Lemonedes, begs to differ. He says that the Human Resources Administration did not do anything wrong and there is no evidence to support what Galves-Morgan is complaining about. He says there is no substantial proof of any wrongdoing. He says that the city simply thought it would be better to go for a settlement, considering the long process and risk of appeal and litigation, which would end up costing the city a whole lot more.

Lemonedes also pointed out that Doar comes from a family that has worked hard to fight for civil rights, not against them. He says that Doar’s father once served as an attorney general for the Justice Department, working to enforce civil rights along the way. He believes that there is absolutely no way Doar would discriminate on this woman based on race or anything else. The settlement will not include an admission of liability because of this.

Glaves-Morgan was born in Jamaica but came to the United States in 1961. She attended and graduated from Yale and went on to earn a law degree at Brooklyn Law School shortly thereafter. She had been working in the social services agency for nearly two decades, since 1995.