White man wins big in city discrimination case
In 1969-70, racial conflict enveloped the Elm City as nine Black Panthers charged with the murder of Alex Rackley stood trial. Only 35.6 percent of the New Haven population today is white, but race controversy persists, this time in reverse: Last Friday, the city acceded to a $428,000 discrimination settlement for Casper Vollero, Jr., a white man rejected from a job with the city public works department in 2003.
Five years later, the history of the Vollero case has had more twists to it than a murder mystery. Vollero’s attorney, Diane Polan, PC ’73, argued that Vollero’s constitutional rights had been violated by a de facto quota system of employment held by the public works department. “For every three open jobs they hired one black, one white, and one Hispanic,” said Polan. She initially offered to settle the case out of court for $60,000. Running contrary to City Hall lawyers’ recommendation, the Litigation Settlement Commission voted to reject the settlement.
The New Haven Superior Court then tried the case in December and awarded Vollero a $500,000 settlement—almost nine times Polan’s initial offer. New Haven promised to appeal the decision.
Facing a long battle in appellate court , Polan worked out a quick deal with a humbled, more tractable Settlement Commission. In an emergency meeting last Friday, the Commission agreed to settle for $427,762.24. The city itself will pay $150,000; the rest will be covered by insurance. Chief Administrative Officer Robert Smuts, Comptroller Mark Pietrosione, and Alderman Jorge Perez, who voted against accepting the $60,000 settlement in December, voted for the $428 thouasand offer on Friday.
The story has left some New Haven residents bitter. Polan crossed out a gag-clause on the agreement in order to articulate her opinion that the city had bungled the case to the detriment of its taxpayers. “They just don’t make rational decisions,” she said of the Settlement Commission.
Jessica Mayorga, spokeswoman for the mayor, directed the commentary in a more positive direction: “Obviously we prefer the settlement to the judgment,” she said.
Besides the monetary implications, the results of the case bring to the forefront continuing racial tension. “I don’t think anyone woke up that morning and said ‘I’m going to discriminate,’” said Emmet Hibson, Director of Labor Relations, “but quite frankly, everyone has a lot of biases.” He speaks to a hyper-consciousness of race, which may have been responsible for Vollero’s rejection. “People know that if you’re going to choose a 25-year-old white male over a 40-year-old black male or female, well, you’d better have all your ducks in a line,” he said. The opposite may now hold true as well.
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