Two get $559,000 in City Light bias case

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A jury yesterday ordered Seattle City Light to pay more than $500,000 to two employees who sued over alleged racial discrimination.

Chuong Van Pham and Heliodoro Lara sued the utility in 1997 after repeatedly being passed over for an apprenticeship program while white men were hired instead.

After a three-week trial and weeklong deliberation, a King County Superior Court jury found that discrimination based on "race or national origin" was a "substantial factor" in those decisions.

Pham was awarded more than $429,000 and Lara $130,000 in lost pay and damages. The city may also have to pay their attorney's fees of more than $200,000.

It is not known whether the city will appeal the verdict. A City Light spokesman and an attorney for the city did not return calls yesterday afternoon.

The case was reminiscent of allegations — and subsequent court victories — in the 1970s and early 1980s of discrimination based on gender, race and ideology within the city-owned utility.

Pham and Lara had worked for the utility for years as "cable-splicer helpers," repairing and building underground power lines. But in 1991 the city decided to get rid of the helper position, requiring workers to apply for apprenticeships to qualify for journeyman-level jobs.

The two men passed the tests needed to qualify and were placed on a preferred hiring list but watched as white men took virtually all of the available positions, the lawsuit claimed. They were forced to take lower-paying jobs in 1996 or be laid off.

The lawsuit described an "old boys club" at the utility, where minorities were looked down on and sometimes subjected to ethnic slurs. Pham came to the U.S. in 1979 as a Vietnamese refugee. Lara is a Hispanic American who started working at the utility in 1975.

"We hope that this verdict sends a strong message to Seattle City Light to end its discriminatory practices," said Jack Sheridan, attorney for Pham and Lara.