DATE: Friday, March 14, 1997                TAG: 9703140689

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   34 lines

JUDGE ISSUES ORDER TO STOP DISCRIMINATION AT CIRCUIT CITY

A federal judge issued a sweeping order Thursday to prevent race discrimination at home electronics chain Circuit City Stores and said he will oversee the company's employment practices for five years.

The order by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer requires the Virginia-based retailer to adopt what plaintiffs in a racial discrimination lawsuit said are practices typical of companies its size.

On Dec. 2, a jury found that Circuit City showed a pattern of racial discrimination in failing to promote blacks at its Richmond headquarters. About 3,500 people work there, 800 of them black.

Morgan Stewart, a spokesman for Circuit City, said the company intends to appeal the verdict and Spencer's order.

Richard L. Sharp, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said after the jury verdict that Circuit City believed it had done nothing wrong.

Spencer ordered Circuit City to hire a director of diversity management from outside the company. He said the person hired was subject to comment by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and his approval.

He also ordered the company to develop a program for promotions that includes position descriptions and posting of vacancies. The judge said he would retain jurisdiction over the case for five years and require regular reports.

The judge also upheld $290,000 in compensatory and punitives damages that the trial jury awarded to one current and one former Circuit City employee. KEYWORDS: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

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