Workers Deserve Respect

Tempe is a city which boasts of its commitment to diversity. It has an openly gay mayor and provides domestic partner benefits for its employees.

However, all is not well.

The case of nine Latino city employees against the city of Tempe, Arizona is on its way to the jury. The current and former employees have alleged blatant racism on the job including, according to the Arizona Republic degrading jokes, salty slurs, promotion pass-overs and harsher discipline than their Anglo co-workers. The federal trial has lasted six weeks.

Many city workers have testified at the trial. Raul Travino said he overheard a Tempe Public Works supervisor advise someone not to hire Mexicans because they were lazy. Pedro Amaya told the jury his boss said he would get promoted because he was born “on the wrong side of the border.

"This is a problem that should have been stopped years ago. Certainly it should have been stopped in the 1980s," said Stephen Montoya, an attorney representing the plaintiffs told the East Valley Tribune.

The case was first filed in 2002 and the charges have already leaded to the resignation of the former City Manager and other local officials. Investigations by the state Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission both found evidence of racial discrimination. They also found that women and employees with disabilities were treated unfairly.

Lawyers for the city say after those reports the city cleaned itself up. They claim the workers are just a group of politically savy, “well paid” workers. The city makes the strange argument that the workers complained about racial discrimination only as they mounted a campaign to overturn the city's "no U-turn" policy. They say the policy upset Hispanic street sweepers and that is the real reason for the charges being made.

Montoya asked then why no witnesses ever accused his clients of being "liars." He asked why the city continuously referred to diversity audits but never entered the actual audit results as evidence. He called the city "cowardly" for never apologizing for the perceived wrongs. "We all know the concept; even a dog knows the difference between when it's stumbled over and when it's kicked," Montoya said. "Saying you're sorry means a lot."

Montoya says his clients are vulnerable workers who hold humble jobs and do necessary work. He says, "They deserved respect. They didn't get it." Sources: Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, Arizona Central