FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
SOUTHWESTERN LEGAL FOUNDATION
San Francisco, CA (February 27, 2008)
Yesterday, the San Francisco http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3364. The SFPD officers were represented by attorney Patrick J. Manshardt, President of Southwestern Legal Foundation (SLF).
The lawsuits were filed in 2003 by a White SFPD Sergeant, Ric Schiff and 11 other Sergeants or Inspectors of Asian, Hispanic and White origin. All 12 Plaintiffs took a 1999 promotional exam for the rank of Lieutenant. But once the 1999 promotional list was established, every single Black person on the list was promoted regardless of their rank on the list. Absent racial discrimination, this was almost statistically impossible. An examination of the promotional patterns and other circumstances behind the promotions disclosed a blatant preference for Blacks to the exclusion of others.Early on in the case the City of San Francisco attempted to have the Plaintiffs’ causes of action under Proposition 209 dismissed, arguing that Proposition 209 did not apply. But United States District Court Judge Maxine Chesney disagreed, allowing the claims under Proposition 209 to proceed.
In the Lawsuit, the Plaintiffs gathered evidence that pointed to a pattern of discrimination in the SFPD when it came to Lieutenant Promotions. Executive Director of SLF, Aparna Srinivasan said, “The SFPD flouted the U. S. Constitution, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Proposition 209 in the promotion process that favored Black Officers over all others.”
“The U. S. and California Constitutions protect the rights of individuals, not groups, to be free of racial discrimination in public employment. People should have the same outrage to the City’s racially animated promotions process that they would if Blacks were being systematically excluded from promotions,” Manshardt added.
Southwestern Legal Foundation is a Los Angeles based advocacy group dedicated to defending individual liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution against government encroachment. SLF strives to strengthen the foundation of a free society and ensure that public policy is grounded within constitutional limitations and common sense.