KANSAN
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Wednesday. April 8, 1981 Vol. 91, No. 128 USPS 650-640
Seven charge Med Center with discrimination Federal complaint system vexed by backlog
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -Black employees in the Facilities Operations department at the University of Kansas Medical Center have been verbally harassed and denied promotions by their white administrators and supervisors, the Kansas Operations employees have told the Kansan.
At least seven of the 52 black employees in the Med Center Facilities Operations department have filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Yet many of the internal grievances and EEOC complaints are unresolved. For example, a 178 complaint has yet to be acted on.
KU administrators, however, said that the mere filing of several complaints did not prove that discrimination was actually occurring at the Med Center.
Lawyers advised three of the seven Med Center complainants not to comment on their complaints. One employee, who is no longer with the Med Center, could not be reached for comment.
ONE OF THE MEN who would not comment wrote in his complaint that he was verbally harassed by a white supervisor who walked into the carpentry shop yelling "Nigger, Nigger, nigger."
An investigation into his complaint is pending. The three men who were willing to talk to the three women,詹颖, 24, Jerry Taylor, 31, and Dennis Burkart, 43. All three are still employed at the Med Center.
Williams, who has worked at the Med Center for three and one-half years, and Taylor, who has worked with a number of medical professionals.
From the employees' racial discrimination complaints, several allegations were surfaced:
- All three employees said other men with less experience and seniority received promotions only.
- Williams, a general maintenance repair technician performed supervisory duties which were not called to him.*
- Burkhard, a construction worker, said other men were hand-picked by white supervisors for jobs and promotions without having to apply for them.
- Taylor, a maintenance carpenter, said that job openings in Facilities Operations were posted without opening or closing dates for the positions. The city officials that violated Kansas civil service regulations.
- All three employees said they received tips for which other employees were not criticized.
ACTING KU CHANCELLOR Del Shankel said the administration had been involved in ensuring that discrimination was not occurring at the Med Center.
Although Shankel said discrimination was not necessarily occurring, several officials at the Med Center confirmed that the allegations were true.
The officials, who asked not to be identified,
cited a number of discriminatory practices.
One practice mentioned was the lack of training or educational opportunities for minority employees.
However, Gloria Allen, director of employee education at the med Center, said officials were working to correct the lack of minority educational opportunities there.
There are no programs at the Med Center to
By BRIAN LEVINSON Staff Reporter
KANSAS CITY, Kan.-The discrimination complaints filed by Facilities Operations employees at the University of Kansas Medical Center have revealed several problems with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's complaint system.
The EEEOC's inability to keep up with its complaint backlog forced it to reorganize in 1977, when it had 100,000 cases, Reginald Welch, public information officer for the EEEOC in Washington, D.C., said. The EEEOC reduced the backlog to 30,000 cases.
According to Welch, the reorganization included a separate staff to handle only backlog cases, a rapid-charge process to handle more requests, and a rapid response phase on systemic-discrimination complaints.
SYSTEMIC-DISCRIMINATION complaints are similar to class-action law suits. They are complained by different people about the same problem, Welch said.
"The whole purpose of the reorganization was to clear out the backlog and streamline our intake process, so that we could dedicate more time to systematic discrimination." Welch said.
"The EEOC feels the purpose of Title VII is best served by pursuing systemic complaints instead of going after complaints one-by-one, is the case with most of our complaints." Welch
Welch said the EEOC initiated 62 systemic-complaint investigations in fiscal 1980.
Three of the six complainants said they were harassed and were denied promotions by their supervisors for the racial reasons. Two of the men are black and the other is white. The white man said that he had been harassed ever since he testified for one of the black men at an EEOC hearing.
Now the EEGO is investigating six complaints by employees in Facilities Operations at the Med.
DESPITE THE EECOS EFFORTS, Norris williams, one of the three complaints, said he was frustrated by the lack of action.
an investigator to his case—eight months after he filed his complaints.
Joe Doherty, director of the EOEC's Kansas City office, said that under federal law he could not comment on the complaints or even acknowledge that a particular complaint had been filed.
Welch said one possible reason Williams's complaint was just now being assigned to an investigator was that the different district offices had different-sized backlogs.
However, in a letter to Williams dated Aug. 27, 1980, from Clifford Hill, an EOE supervisor in the Kansas City, Mo., office, the EOE said it would "for appropriate processing" within 30 days.
"When the EEOC reorganized in 1977, we moved backlog (cases) around to try to equalize the number of cases each office had," Welch said. "It used to take from two to three years from the time a complaint was filed until the case was closed. Now, it is usually a matter of months."
ANOTHER POSSIBLE reason for the delay in
SEOFOG page 5
as to where they could get help in studying for the GED (graduate equivalency diploma). Now, we are looking into offering a basic studies program and a GED class for all employees."
ONE REASON for the discrimination, problems is the all-white administration of Facilities Operations, according to the officials. Employee records indicate that the seven highest-ranking administrators in Facilities Operations are white as are the majority of
Supervisor 1, the lower level, is a working supervisor. A Supervisor 2 performs more administrative duties. There are no black Supervisor 2s or 32 supervisor in eight areas, only black
Another reason the officials mentioned for the existence of discriminatory practices was that equal employment opportunity and state civil services were not enforced.
service laws were not enforced.
They advertise open positions in the Main-
application, they can tell me that a job has been closed and I have no way of knowing."
THE POSTING OF OPENING AND CLOSING dates for open civil service positions is required by Kansas personnel regulations. The regulation states that "the director (of a department) shall prescribe the period during which applications will be accepted."
Since the EEOC complaints were filled, the job posting problems have been corrected and the employee education department has started a class for managers. The class is designed to help
April, 1981
Ampersand
See DISCRIMINATION page 5
New KU IDs should arrive by summer
THE LOGO on the current ID will not change, but will be smaller on the new card to make room for more data.
Regardless of when the new cards arrive, they will cost $1.50, and $5 for each replacement, Dyck said. Purchasing new cards will be optional for students.
The last time KU obtained new student IDs was in the fall of 1979. The decision to switch again was made after several academic meetings and Dyck's office for cards with pictures, he said.
"We're not going to force anybody to get a new one," Dyck said. "If you want to keep the plastic IDs, they can. I have around 9,000 IDs that people didn't bother to pick up last year."
The University of Kansas should have its fifth student identification card in 15 years by late this spring or early summer, Gli Dyck, director of admissions and records, said yesterday.
"Last spring, we had several of the larger departments request that we go back to picture IDs because they were having problems controlling their large exams," he said.
The date is uncertain, Dyck said, because KU is still considering bids for the work from various suppliers.
"But they told us that the sample card did that because it had been run through a laminating machine that was not hot enough," he said. "It really does. This card is really a good one, we'll go with it."
Dyck said he easily peeled apart the laminated sample ID card the company sent.
"Right now, the lowest bidder is Stik, Stip, Inc., from somewhere in Texas," Dyck said. "We will be awarding them the contract if we can get cards of the quality that they say they are."
THE NEW CARD would differ from KU's current "credit card" model because it would be laminated and carry the student's picture, Dyck said.
"The card will have the same capabilities as the old card, except that it won't be embossed." Deacon told me.
See IDS page 5
Weather
It will be partly cloudy today, with a high of 66 and winds from the northwest at 10 to 20 mph, according to the KU Weather Service. Skies will clear tonight, with a low of 40 and light and variable winds. Tomorrow's high will be around 70, under partly cloudy skies.