Some 2,000 members of the Cook class-action lawsuit against the Library learned recently that they will collect $8.5 million in back pay.
An order issued on Nov. 14 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit clears the way for full implementation of the 1995 settlement of the 14-year-old racial discrimination suit by African American employees of the Library.
In the wake of the court order, Dr. Billington said: "The settlement is a beginning, not an ending. Much remains to be done. Particular emphasis must remain on our hiring and promotion process. I will accept nothing less than a firm commitment on the part of Library managers and staff to ensure equal opportunity and fairness in all our activities."
In a Nov. 22 Special Announcement to the staff, Dr. Billington said the Library will work closely with the Departments of Justice and Treasury to distribute cash payments of the $8.5 million to some 2,000 past and current African American Library employees.
The Cook payout apparently will be the largest ever made by the U.S. government to settle such a lawsuit against a federal agency. The money will be distributed from a special Treasury fund early next year.
Dr. Billington said he has directed Deputy Librarian Donald L. Scott to implement up to 40 promotions for class members within 90 days of the implementation date and to carry out specified reassignments as soon as possible.
Since a 1992 federal court finding that the Library's personnel practices from 1977 to 1988 had had "disparate impact," on African American employees, the Library has revamped its hiring and promotion system to ensure fairness and objectivity and has provided diversity training to its managers and supervisors.
U.S. District Court Judge Norma Holloway Johnson said in her Sept. 22, 1995, order approving the settlement agreement: "The sweeping personnel changes at the Library effected by the settlement of this matter are ... the primary benefit produced by the Cook litigation."
Roughly 1,600 of the Library's 4,600 employees are African American.
In addition to cash payments and nonmonetary relief for the plaintiffs, the government will pay $1.6 million for attorneys' fees and expenses of the plaintiffs incurred through 1993 as well as subsequent attorneys' fees during the four-year life of the agreement, which calls for regular consultation and monitoring by plaintiffs' lawyers of Library personnel practices.
Brief History
The Cook suit had its origins in a 1975 administrative Equal Employment Opportunity claim of discrimination filed by Howard L. Cook and other Library employees. In 1982, after that claim was rejected by the Library, Cook and others filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging discrimination against blacks as a class in hiring and promotion in Library administrative and professional positions.
On Aug. 14, 1992, after examining Library employment data for the 1979-88 period, Judge Johnson issued a partial summary judgment finding the Library's three-stage personnel selection process to be so "subjective" as to discriminate against African Americans seeking professional and administrative positions. She did not assess damages or order remedies. But she ordered the attorneys for both sides to work out a settlement.
A preliminary settlement agreement was reached on April 25, 1994. Judge Johnson approved that agreement tentatively on Aug. 2, 1994, and after holding open "fairness" hearings, gave final approval to the settlement agreement on Sept. 22, 1995.
Full implementation, including the staff promotions and the $8.5 million payout, had to await appellate court decisions on three individual appeals concerning the settlement itself. Then, on Nov. 14, the circuit court entered an order stating that all those appeals from the final approval of the Cook class settlement agreement had been dismissed and the time for appeals of the September 1995 order had expired.
Said Chief of Staff Jo Ann Jenkins: "I am pleased that the court saw fit to allow the Library to proceed with processing the promotions and reassignments agreed upon in the Cook class settlement agreement. We will work closely with the appropriate agencies to make sure that the monetary payments are disbursed as expeditiously as possible."
Ms. Jenkins emphasized that management vigilance to ensure fairness will continue. "We must not make the mistake of thinking that we no longer have any problems in the hiring and promotion process," she said. "As Dr. Billington said in his Special Announcement to the staff, we must continue our drive to ensure fairness and equity in these and other programs that the Library administers. This means no letup in our present efforts, including diversity training, career advancement programs and fair and equitable treatment for all of our employees."
