ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996            TAG: 9611290109
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B8   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
DATELINE: CHICAGO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DONNELLEY FACES RACE LAWSUIT EX-WORKERS ASK FOR $500 MILLION

A $500 million lawsuit accuses the nation's largest commercial printer of laying off hundreds of black workers while giving less-experienced white employees jobs at other plants.

Chicago-based R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. said in a statement that it is ``outraged at the inflammatory accusations and characterization.'' But it could not immediately provide statistics on the racial breakdown of those laid off.

The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court, accuses the printer of ``intentional and outrageous race discrimination'' and seeks $500 million in damages.

(Donnelley is building the first phase of a $102 million book factory in ValleyTech Park west of Salem. The company expects to hire 175 workers to begin production next May in the local facility.)

Candace Gorman, a lawyer representing 22 workers in the complaint, said more than 500 Donnelley employees were victims of racial discrimination when the company closed a plant on Chicago's South Side.

Donnelley also faces an age-discrimination lawsuit filed last year, involving the same plant shutdown. That suit contends many older workers were dismissed in favor of younger employees.

In January 1993, Donnelley announced plans to shut down the 65-year-old plant, lay off 660 workers and move production to other facilities.

The closing was prompted by Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s decision to discontinue most of its catalogs.

According to the lawsuit, Donnelley laid off all but seven of the 575 black employees at the plant but transferred about 130 of the plant's 400 white workers, mainly men, to other facilities.

The lawsuit contends that in many cases, the laid-off black workers had more tenure than the retained white workers.

``In fact, some of my clients had to go to facilities to help train these younger employees in how to work the machinery,'' Gorman said.

The company began researching the case only after the suit was filed, spokesman William Lowe said, so he could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many employees of each race were laid off or transferred.

``We take these allegations seriously and want to respond accurately,'' he said.

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