In April 1998, seven African-American attorneys who sought or had jobs with the City of Michigan's Law Department filed suit in Michigan state court, claiming they were discriminated against on the basis of race from 1994 to 1999 in violation of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. They alleged unfair promotions, discriminatory hiring, unfair transfers, and uneven work assignments. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief such as reinstatements and promotions.

The trial court judge, Cynthia D. Stephens, certified a class of all African- Americans who are current and former employees of the Detroit Law Department or applied for employment in a position requiring a legal education. The class includes not just lawyers, but also legal clerks and interns from law schools. An attorney for the plaintiffs said the class could include more than 200 current and former employees claiming disparate treatment and at least 200 or more African American applicants from a pool of 1,200 who were denied jobs. The Court of Appeals then granted interlocutory review of the class certification decision, and vacated and reversed it, finding an absence of sufficient commonality of experience to justify class action status. Neal v. James, 252 Mich. App. 12, 651 N.W.2d 181 (Ct. App. 2002).

After this point, we do not know what happened.

- 05/01/2008


compress summary