On August 20, 1998, several African-American employees filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 against the National Railroad Passenger Corporation ("Amtrak") in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, asked the court for compensatory and injunctive relief. Specifically, the plaintiffs argued that they had received lower wages than their white counterparts. The plaintiffs alleged racial discrimination and sought to represent a class of similarly situated employees. The class was approved and consisted of African-American management employees at Amtrak.

On November 2, 1999, the court (Judge Emmet G. Sullivan) approved a consent decree. The consent decree provided for the performance of a compensation study, the findings of which the parties agreed to adopt. The compensation changes led to over $500,000 in salary adjustments for class members still employed by Amtrak, as well as lump sum payments for those plaintiffs who had terminated their employment with Amtrak since October 1, 2002. McLaurin v. National Ry. Passenger Corp., 311 F. Supp. 2d 61 (D.D.C. 2004).

On March 30, 2004, the court (Judge Sullivan) granted in part the plaintiffs' motion to enforce the consent decree. The consent decree was enforced to the extent that relief was enforced for only those underpaid to a statistically significant degree as determined by an expert's compensation analysis, and not merely all those underpaid. Additionally, the court ordered the enforcement that each employee's salary must be adjusted to the "predicted salary" and not just to the point where the difference isn't statistically significant.

The parties stipulated to the changes, and on November 24, 2004, the court signed the stipulation. The case is closed.

Emily Kuznick - 04/09/2008


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