Berkeley workers claim age, race bias

The Daily Californian BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE)-- Three University of California at Berkeley employees have filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming they were unfairly relieved of management positions last year in favor of younger minority candidates. George Howard, Bruce Costa and Robert Botts, who were supervisors in the Campus Services Department, said they were replaced last year because they were each over the age of 50 and white. The plaintiffs lost their jobs after officials at the campus' Physical Plant Department announced what they termed a "reorganization" last year, forcing all employees -- including management -- to reapply for their positions, said Howard, the former senior superintendent of plumbing. But the plaintiffs, who filed their lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court, said they were told they performed poorly in separate interviews for their positions. They were each then given non-management positions within the department. "We believe this was done to move people into our positions that were younger or minorities," Howard said. "We allege that there is reverse discrimination, age discrimination." University officials said yesterday that they had not been served with the lawsuit, but acknowledged that complaints by the three plaintiffs are currently under investigation. Campus attorney Mike Smith said the university has nearly completed the fact-finding process in its investigation of the case, and that the university is investigating the matter in "good faith." "Each one of these cases is undergoing the grievance process," Smith said. "It is a basic due process that employees can go through if they believe that they have been treated unfairly." Costa, who said he reapplied for the position of machinery superintendent and was not chosen, added that he was told he performed poorly during an interview conducted during the reorganization. But Costa said he was not told what he had specifically done incorrectly during the interview, and expressed frustration with having been re-assigned to the new position of project manager. "I was pretty upset with the whole situation," he said. "I have never failed at a thing in my life. I had 35 years of experience as a supervisor, and they said it wasn't good enough." Costa said his salary was "redlined," making him ineligible for a raise. He added that in December, employees were given a cost-of-living increase in their salaries, but that he, Howard and Botts did not receive such an increase. After the reassignment, Costa said he sought the help of a psychiatrist for two months to deal with the feelings of frustration. Johnny Torrez, director of the physical plant, said he was only informed of the lawsuit yesterday, but added that he was unfamiliar with the specifics of the case. He declined to comment on the matter. Howard alleged that Torrez and other department officials intentionally misled employees to think that their jobs were secure. "One of the people at work asked [Torrez] directly if he was going to have managers and supervisors reapply for their positions, and he said 'No,'" Howard said. "But we as managers and superintendents saw the writing on the wall." This is not the first time the campus has been faced with charges of reverse discrimination. In February, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found "reasonable cause" to believe that the university illegally discriminated against a white male employee in the university's housing department.