I can't post this over on MF.com about Eddie Jordan

[ghetto_star]

A federal jury said Wednesday that Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan, the first African-American to be elected the city's chief prosecutor, discriminated against 43 white employees when he fired them in 2003.

Jurors awarded the plaintiffs about $1.9 million in back pay and other damages, a figure equal to about 20 percent of Jordan's annual budget of $10 million. Jordan said his office could not afford such a payment and that he would appeal the verdict.

"I wasn't making racial decisions," Jordan said after the verdict, repeating as he did on the witness stand that he did not know who held the positions when he arrived.

The only sign of leniency the jury showed was refusing to award the plaintiffs punitive damages. The fired employees, led by Judith DeCorte, a former legal assistant in the child support division, had asked for a modest sum of $100,000 to cover them all.

"Race discrimination is wrong; it goes both ways," said the plaintiffs' lead attorney, Clement Donelon. The verdict, he said, "sends the message to elected officials: Don't discriminate."

Donelon, a former attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said that if Jordan had fired the entire office left over from the previous administration, "we wouldn't be here. You can't just fire all the white people."

After about 16 hours of deliberations over 2½ days, the 10 jurors delivered a unanimous verdict that sided with the plaintiffs on almost every count, awarding approximately $992,000 in back pay, $480,000 in back benefits, and $395,000 in emotional damages and other damages.

The average award in the civil rights lawsuit was about $45,000. Amounts per plaintiff ranged from a high of $98,800 to nothing for the personal secretary of Jordan's predecessor, longtime District Attorney Harry Connick; the jury decided she would have lost her job regardless.

Among the 43 plaintiffs was one Hispanic employee, a man included by Jordan's legal team in their "white" count.

Jordan started down the road to his courtroom defeat eight days after taking office. As a first step toward building his staff, Jordan fired 53 of 77 white workers who were not lawyers -- investigators, clerks and child-support enforcement workers -- and replaced almost all of them with black employees.

[ghetto_star]

Harry Connick held the post of DA for 27 years, New Orleans was different 27 years ago way different, it is normal for a candate who is entering office to set up his own people. This is not discrimination eventhough it may look that way, its just a bunch a white people who are bitter to the fact that we finally have a black DA. Yes it is a racial thing but not on Jordan's part, and then again this story comes from The Times-Picayune, so those of you who dont live in New Orleans may not be getting the full story. When Kathleen Blanco took over as governor she got rid of Mike Fosters staff, likewise Charles Foti set up his own staff when he took over for Ricahrd Ieyoub.
The majority of the white staff members live outside of Orleans Parish, the don't pay taxes in the City of New Orleans

I think the appeal will be in the DA's favor

They got a post there about the story

[ghetto_star]

Originally Posted by Man_in_Minnesota

I think the appeal will be in the DA's favor

It has to be, this is not an issue of race this is an issue of Eddie Jordan bringing in his own staff just as any politician does when he takes office.

[jacqui]

It is a issue of blacks whether right or wrong thinking they can do things like whites do. The sheriff in Georgia learned that lesson as well, he fired some white sheriffs and they got their jobs back. I am sure the jury was predominately white or loaded with those we have overcome thinking blacks.
In case we did not know we have not overcome YET.
My vent.

[ghetto_star]

Originally Posted by Man_in_Minnesota

They got a post there about the story

I know I took it from there

[ghetto_star]

Originally Posted by jacqui

It is a issue of blacks whether right or wrong thinking they can do things like whites do. The sheriff in Georgia learned that lesson as well, he fired some white sheriffs and they got their jobs back. I am sure the jury was predominately white or loaded with those we have overcome thinking blacks.
In case we did not know we have not overcome YET.
My vent.

I am still trying to search for the racial makeup of the jury, the strange part about this is that New Orleans is majority black, well heavily black, these white workers do not even live in the city, The whites made this a racial issue when this was only an issue of a Politician inputing his own staff.

[jacqui]

I hear you ghetto star but they can have an all white jury in Detroit if they want to. That is tripped out though.

[ghetto_star]

Originally Posted by jacqui

I hear you ghetto star but they can have an all white jury in Detroit if they want to. That is tripped out though.

yeah that is tripped out