On April 11, 1995, a black job applicant filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff of Cook County in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Illinois. The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged that the defendant discriminated against him and "other black persons" on the basis of race and color in connection with the hiring of correctional officers. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had hired a disproportionate number of white and Hispanic applicants and had failed and refused to hire the plaintiff and other black persons as correctional officers in proportion to their representation in the pool of persons certified for employment.

On January 10, 1996, the Court (Judge James B. Zagel) denied the plaintiff's motion for class certification on the ground that the plaintiff had claims atypical of the class and would therefore be an inadequate class representative. On Aprial 11, 1996, the plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint named another applicant as an additional plaintiff.

However, on July 22, 1996, the Court (Judge Zagel) ruled that the other plaintiff could not intervene as class representative because she had failed to exhausted her administrative remedies by not filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.

On March 16, 1998, the Court entered judgment in favor of defendant and against plaintiff.

Kunyi Zhang - 11/11/2010


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