THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070649
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
A group of black employees at Norfolk Naval Shipyard sued the Navy on Thursday, claiming racial discrimination has blocked them from advancing beyond low-level jobs that are vulnerable to layoffs.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the employees accused shipyard supervisors of systematically denying African Americans the training they need to move into higher-paying jobs that are believed to be more secure.
The class-action suit, which names Navy Secretary John Dalton as a defendant, seeks more than $32 million in compensation for what lawyers estimated were 107 African-American sandblasters and painters in Shop 71 of the Portsmouth shipyard.
The employees also are seeking $26.7 million from the Tidewater Virginia Metal Trades Council for allegedly failing to stop the abuse.
Both claims are part of the same lawsuit.
``The only way this thing can be broken is for us to do what we're doing here,'' said Earl Walton, a sandblaster who is leading the workers group. ``It's unfortunate. We don't want a hand out. Don't give us affirmative action. I don't want that. Give us an even field to play on.''
Steve Milner, a spokesman for the shipyard, declined to comment Thursday, saying officials there had not seen the suit.
The lawsuit stems from claims filed by Walton and other black employees with the shipyard's Equal Employment Office earlier this year, alleging a pattern of discrimination that has relegated them to dirty and low-paying jobs.
In the suit, the workers say they have been denied the training given to white employees and are routinely sent to an ``excess-labor'' shop where they perform menial jobs, such as shoveling snow and painting fire hydrants. The suit claims the workers have been denied the chance to work overtime because of their race and are routinely passed over for promotions.
No black sandblaster has been allowed to advance into a higher-level painting job, though whites who are hired as sandblasters have been allowed to move on, the suit alleges.
In addition, none of the black foremen in Shop 71 has been given a special skills-related designation that could shield them from layoffs. More than half of the white foremen in the shop have been given that designation, the suit says.
Taken together, the suit states, the discrimination has made the workers more susceptible to layoffs. Under federal civil-service regulations, senior employees can ``bump down'' to lower-level jobs when positions are eliminated.
Moreover, at a meeting last winter, a yard official warned that a wage level occupied almost entirely by black workers is likely to be the next victim of the Defense Department budget ax.
The shipyard's work force has been dropping sharply over the last few years as Navy orders shrank during the post-Cold War military drawdown. The number of employees fell from 11,200 at the end of 1992 to 8,665 at the end of 1993. As of June 30, the number had fallen to 7,350.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION BIAS
U.S. NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD by CNB