City Light will pay $125,000 to settle discrimination suit

Seattle City Light has settled a racial-discrimination lawsuit for $125,000, the latest in a series of similar cases the utility has settled or lost in jury trials.

The settlement was announced Friday by Jack Sheridan, the attorney for Juan Rodriguez, a Hispanic truck driver who said he was harassed and denied promotions while white co-workers received preferential treatment.

City Attorney Tom Carr issued a written statement saying City Light did not admit any wrongdoing, but made a business decision "in the best interests of the utility and its ratepayers" to resolve the complaint by Rodriguez, who still works for City Light.

Sheridan said Rodriguez accepted the settlement in the King County Superior Court case so he could move on with his life. "It's stressful and expensive to take a case to trial and he proved his point. He can hold his head high in the workplace and say, 'I was a victim of discrimination,' " Sheridan said.

The payment marks the fourth time in a decade City Light has settled a racial-discrimination case or had a jury rule against it in such a case. Those four lawsuits have cost the city-owned utility more than $1 million. City Light also faced complaints in the 1970s and early 1980s alleging discrimination based on gender, race and ideology.

The city's statement said Superintendent Jorge Carrasco recently hired a new Equal Employment Opportunity manager and has increased diversity training at the utility. When Carrasco, who is Hispanic, took City Light's top job in 2004, he said he would not tolerate discrimination. "I've been reviewing several instances of lost lawsuits and costly settlements and I expect them to stop," Carrasco said in a letter to City Light employees in April 2004.

His letter also said that "rank and position, more than performance, confer status and power" at City Light.

Carrasco on Friday declined an interview through a spokeswoman.

"I'd like to think this settlement is a step forward, but there are still a lot of people feeling mistreated," Sheridan said.

He is also the attorney in pending discrimination suits on behalf of two other City Light employees, one who is African American and the other who is Vietnamese American.

The city's statement said it would "vigorously" defend City Light against those two complaints.

Rodriguez has worked for City Light since 1987, according to his complaint. He alleged that supervisors denied him overtime pay and promotions that went to less-qualified white employees. He also said he was singled out for criticism when things went wrong on the job.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com