
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 31, 1995                   TAG: 9510310119
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WOMAN CLAIMS RACE, SEX BIAS

A woman who works as a part-time counselor at Roanoke's juvenile detention home at Coyner Springs alleges that counselors who are male or black are given preferential treatment in work assignments.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court against the city of Roanoke; the detention home; and Melvin Morton, the home's acting superintendent, the counselor says that employees who had less experience and fewer qualifications were assigned more work hours.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Julie Allie a "right-to-sue letter" in August, allowing her discrimination suit to go forward.

City Attorney Wilburn Dibling said he has seen the suit and denied the allegations, although he declined to discuss it in detail before the city's official response is filed.

The suit says Allie, who is white, has been relegated to weekend and midnight shifts and that her requests for weekday and daytime shifts were denied. Allie was not given an opportunity to apply for a full-time position that eventually was filled by a less-qualified black man, the suit says.

The suit also claims it is the policy of the detention home to call only men when additional relief counselors are needed to work a shift; the suit also alleges that part-time male counselors in general are assigned more work hours each week.

Allie charges that the defendants violated her civil rights; and she is seeking back pay and benefits, $250,000 in damages, and attorneys' fees. She also wants the city prohibited from continuing the conduct she alleges.

by CNB