The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
City settles discrimination lawsuit
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 12, 2007
A racial discrimination lawsuit against the city of Ypsilanti has been settled out of court.
Advertisement
John Barr, Ypsilanti city attorney, said City Council approved a settlement with Pat Mills, a former secretary in the city clerk's office, during closed session on Feb. 6. Barr said Mills was awarded money from the settlement, which was paid by the city's insurance through the Michigan Municipal League, or M.M.L.
Mills asked to not publish her settlement award.
"I'm happy that it turned out, I think, in my favor," Mills said. "I owe the success of my case to god. If it had not been for him in my life, I would not have."
Mills, 58, said she was passed over several times when opportunities for advancement presented themselves. Hired in 1978 at the age of 28, Mills said her only job has been working in the clerk's office in Ypsilanti.
When Grace Ramsey retired as the deputy city clerk in 2000, Mills said both Ramsey and herself had only a high school education. The original posting for Ramsey's position did not require a college degree, but equivalent experience, Mills said. She said the requirement for a degree was added later.
Mills said she asked to be considered, and was, but was passed over for the position. She said the requirement was dropped to an associate's degree after Cherry Lawson, a former city clerk, was hired as the deputy clerk.
Mills said Lawson was hired "off the streets, with no background in government what so ever.
"Here I am a 22-year-old veteran in the Clerk's Office," She said, "They hired her over me, but I helped train her."
Mills said, "All the discrimination acts really started in 1986. I think it was kicked up in 2000."
Although Lawson is black, Michael Cafferty, Mills' attorney, said it doesn't mean discrimination wasn't the cause of her loosing her bid for the position.
"They wanted to use a black person to do the dirty work, so to speak," Cafferty said.
Tyrone Wilson is a memeber of R.A.I.D., Rally Against Individual Discrimination, a local civil rights group.
"That was the ploy," Wilson said. "This is a strategy many employers turn to, to avoid employees filing discrimination complaints."
Mills said her work environment turned hostile after Lawson was hired. She said Lawson wrote false write-ups against her several times. Even on the first day, Mills said Lawson was confrontational.
"I feel that her purpose for coming here was to get Pat Mills out," Wilson said.
In 2004, Bob Slone retired as the city clerk and Lawson was appointed to the interim position, leaving her deputy clerk position open. Again, Mills did not get a promotion.
"After Bob retired she really kicked up on me," Mills said. "I was written up on a constant basis—false write ups."
Mills said she had filed grievances with the city, and none were investigated.
"It seemed to get a lot worse in 2004, when she was turned down for the deputy clerk position," Cafferty said. "When she complained, they launched a campaign to make her job environment more hostile."
Cafferty said the complaints against Mills were false and her grievances were never investigated by the city.
"She made complaints that were essentially ignored," Cafferty said.
Mills said the situation was so intolerable, she took a stress leave in October 2004. She retired two months later.
"I was forced to retire because the work environment was so hostile," Mills said.
After retiring from the city in Jan. 2005, Mills filed her lawsuit against the city in August of that year.
Mayor Paul Schreiber said the settlement was "agreeable for both sides." He said it was "preferable than going to court.
"It's been a long time coming," he said. "I'm ready to move on with our new clerk."
David Otis, of Plunkett and Cooney, a statewide law firm, was chosen by the M.M.L. to represent the city in court. He said the settlement came out of a case evaluation hearing held in January. An independent panel of attorneys determined the settlement amount, to which all parties had agreed.
"I think the city was very convinced that the case was defendable," Otis said. "The driving factor here was the risk of paying her attorney fees."
Though Mills is happy with the settlement, she said she is disappointed her case did not go to court.
"I'm not satisfied," Mills said. "I didn't get to tell my story, I really wanted to.
"I'm here and I want people to know that not only can you fight City Hall, but you can prevail," she said.
Mills said she hopes people will read about her story and learn about her case.
Wilson said, "Her bravery will encourage other blacks that are being mistreated by the government to stand up for themselves."
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
