THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994 TAG: 9406030951
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLISE LYLES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940603 LENGTH: NORFOLK
In a lawsuit filed in federal court last week, Charles T. Wilder Jr., 34, of Norfolk, alleges that SPSA supervisors ``created and allowed the existence of a hostile working environment in which racial slurs and epithets were commonly used by management personnel.''
{REST} Wilder charges that his efforts to fight SPSA's discriminatory practices eventually led to his forced resignation from the garbage diposal and recycling agency. In October 1993, Stephen S. George charged in a suit that SPSA fired him for complaining about racial discrimination against his black co-workers.
Wilder, who is black, is seeking an undisclosed amount in punitive and compensatory damages from SPSA. No trial date has been set. George, who is white, is asking for at least $1 million in punitive and compensatory damages. A June 16 court date has been set for George's case.
``You've got a very cruel atmosphere at SPSA,'' said Wilder. ``The people there don't care about human beings, period. They treat people like animals, like slaves. Either you do what they say you do, or they set you up so you can be fired.''
``We deny that we took any action based on Mr. Wilder's race or disability,'' said Durwood S. Curling, SPSA executive director. ``He resigned pending disciplinary action.'' Curling also denied that supervisors fueled a tense racist environment.
Employment discrimination is a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, cases must be tried in federal court. A lawsuit represents one side of a dispute.
Wilder worked as a dispatcher for three years until his resignation in May 1993. He said that supervisors ``created and allowed'' a racist atmosphere.
His lawsuit also charges that SPSA violated his rights as a disabled person under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discriminatory treatment on the grounds of physical handicaps.
Wilder said supervisors hired him knowing that he suffered from Crohns disease, a painful intestinal disorder aggravated by stress and requires occasional hospitalization. Yet he was subjected to ``discriminatory and harassing remarks and inquiries into his medical history'' and illness, the lawsuit says. It also charges ``differential treatment in the allocation of sick leave.''
Said Wilder, ``People joked about my illness and that offended me. Some people said `I wish he would croke and die.' I went through this for three years.''
After SPSA management learned that Wilder had filed discrimination complaints with the EEOC in February 1993, supervisors sought to retaliate against him with racial and sexual harassment, intimidation and unusually close supervision in an attempt to force his resignation, the suit alleges.
Wilder said job stress severely aggravated his disease and forced him to resign in May 1993.
George alleges that in May 1992 he was dismissed as a recycling vehicle operator because he repeatedly complained about racial insults and slurs made by his immediate supervisors to black employees.
Hired in November 1990, George, 24, was praised as a model employee, the suit says. He was featured in SPSA promotional brochures and videotapes. He received letters of commendation from supervisors and a raise. Less than two years later, he was fired for insubordination.
Like Wilder, George also charges that his attempts to protest racist practices met with retaliation that ended in his dismissal.
After learning that George planned to testify at a discrimination grievance hearing, supervisors plotted to ``fabricate'' disciplinary action against George in an attempt to scare him away from testifying, the suit says.
George refused to back down. Two days after testifying at the hearing, he was dismissed.
``Mr. George was terminated for the direct refusal to follow his supervisor's instructions,'' said Curling, ``not based on his allegations'' of racism. by CNB