3 ex-city officials sue Toledo, Mayor Each seek $1Million, their former jobs

Another example of our mayor's questionable judgment. I understand that this case could have been settled nine months ago, but the mayor didn't want to settle because he didn't want to appear weak . He's a tough guy when he's playing with the tax payer's dollars. I wonder how tough he is when he has to play with his own money. When are we going to wake up and dump this guy?

to play fast and loose with alot of money - like the legal fees in this case - when it is not your money.

If the Mayor would become able to look at every single dollar spent in Toledo under his watch as his OWN money - we'd be in a very different set of circumstances.

If the Mayor would look around and see how many of the people who believed his campaign promises and voted for him have since lost their jobs and their homes - maybe that would get through to him.

He's out looking for awards to apply for while our cities charitable food banks are out of food. We can't feed all the newly made poor in this city - but I hear Toledo is very 'liveable'.

(Sorry for the pun. Couldn't resist.)

We're screwed no matter what happens. An official can fight a charge all they want, since they won't pay. Either the taxpayers pay directly for a settlement (which is inevitable), or the taxpayers are on the hook for insurance that the city buys that covers such settlements. Either way, the taxpayer is screwed.

Firing of the lawsuit magnet would be helpful eh?

I went on line to a web site called PACE to see the actual document that was filed. It doesn't paint a pretty picture of our mayor and his 22nd floor buddies. The complaint is 16 pages long.

I tried, finkbeiner, pace and complaint and the first listing was a story on our Mayor on a site called politicalwhore (sorry about the language. Not my site)

Can you provide a like to that complaint Joe? I'd never be able to weed through all those entries. But I think to answer my question from earlier - how many lawsuits are we facing? I'm thinking it's alot. Many, many lawsuits

does anyone know how lawsuits many a other city's our size are mixed up in?

I saw the 6:00 PM news on channel 13. Hold on folks, this is going to be a mess unless Carty resolves this case quickly.

The Mayor isn't saying anything publicly about this case. Maybe he's finally learned to keep his mouth shut. The Toledo Journal ran a very informative article about this case.

Yes.

Former city workers taking Carty to court
By: Journal Staff
The Toledo Journal
Originally posted 4/30/2008

Three former city employees have filed a multi-million dollar suit against the mayor and the city, but say they’re still willing to negotiate a settlement with Carty Finkbeiner.
Perlean Griffin, Gary Daugherty and Dwayne Morehead, whose battle with the Finkbeiner Administration began in March 2007, last week filed a seven-count discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The suit, prepared by Columbus civil rights attorney Emily Lewis, seeks reinstatement to their former positions and damages ''in excess of $1,000,000.00 each.''
''I personally don’t think it’s enough,'' Mr. Daugherty, 59, said in an interview last week. ''It’s because of the gravity of the events that have taken place. We’re not trying to be unreasonable, we’re not trying to break the city of Toledo. We’re just trying to get compensated for the agony we’ve gone through.''
However, all three plaintiffs characterized the lawsuit as their only available option and said they would consider negotiating. The Finkbeiner Administration earlier refused to cooperate with an investigation by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which eventually determined ''probable cause'' that all three were victims of discriminatory and retaliatory treatment.
''I’m just ready for this thing to be over,'' Mr. Morehead, 35, said last week. ''It’s been drawn out. It’s had an effect on me, my family. I’m just ready for this thing to be over. Hopefully, the mayor will do the right thing, the same thing he should have done months back – get this thing settled.''
Fritz Byers, the private attorney hired by the mayor to handle the case, didn’t return calls from The Journal but the mayor, questioned after one of his press conference, indicated negotiating is out of the question.
''We look forward to the city having an opportunity to present its position, something we haven’t had an opportunity to do to date,'' the mayor told The Journal. He declined to discuss the case further.
The suit cites many instances that have been reported by local media over the past 14 months, including Mayor Finkbeiner’s insistence on downgrading the Department of Affirmative Action/Contract Compliance that Ms. Griffin, 68, formerly headed. It also cites her investigation into mistreatment of a city employee that resulted in findings against one of the mayor’s top administrators.
''In late 2006, after an investigation into allegations by African-American female Pat King-Taylor, Griffin found probable cause that a white Department Director of the City of Toledo had engaged in race discrimination and recommended remedial action,'' the suit reads. ''Finkbeiner refused to accept Griffin’s recommendations. His Chief of Staff Bob Rinebolt [sic] asked Griffin to revise her finding. Griffin refused to revise her investigative report and finding that it was probable that race discrimination had occurred.''
In an interview last week, Ms. Griffin said she is certain AA/CC was downgraded because of the King-Taylor case and not, as the administration claims, as part of an overall budget reduction.
''I have no doubt that it started with the Pat King-Taylor case,'' Ms. Griffin said.
The suit claims deprivation of civil rights, race discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation for engaging in protected conduct, violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and violation of Ohio public policy. The latter refers to the allegedly illegal method the Finkbeiner Administration used to ''dismantle'' AA/CC, as Ms. Griffin regards the move.
Mayor Finkbeiner fired Ms. Griffin in March 2007, saying it was because she refused to go along with his administration’s plan for her department.
Regarding the hostile work environment charge, the suit lists a series of comments that the mayor has allegedly made at various points in time.
''Finkbeiner has a pattern and practice of making on-the-job remarks at staff and other official meetings that contain offensive stereotypes of African Americans, has engaged in discriminatory employment practices, and has exhibited hostility, insensitivity and a callous attitude against acknowledging any issues or incidents where race discrimination could be an issue,'' the suit reads.
''For example,'' the suit continues, ''Finkbeiner made the following remarks at City of Toledo Director’s meetings: ‘black women do not know how to take care of their children’; ‘blacks lack parenting skills’; ‘black women just want to have babies and collect welfare’; ‘black ministers are a bunch of pimps’; called the African-American Fire Chief his ‘King Kong’; ‘thank God, I was not raised poor and black.’''
The suit claims the mayor ''refused to hire a qualified African-American for a Director position because ‘the good old boys on the 22nd floor would not allow two black Directors over one department.’ The ‘good old boys’ are Finkbeiner’s white staff.''
Like Ms. Griffin, Mr. Morehead was fired. Mr. Daugherty was laid off in March 2007, a move the mayor’s office said was needed to help balance the general fund budget. But the suit notes that Mr. Daugherty’s salary was unrelated to the general fund.
''The proffered reason for the termination is a pretext for race discrimination and retaliation for engaging in protected conduct and association,'' the suit reads. ''Daugherty’s position was 80% funded by a federal EPA grant and 20% funded by the City Department of Public Utilities, not City of Toledo general fund revenue.''
Mr. Daugherty was manager of Environmental Services, having joined the city in January 2006 after 35 years with the Scotts Co., where he was a director and a vice president. The suit says his supervisor at the city, Casey Stephens, told him to not speak to Ms. Griffin without his permission and that Human Resources Director Theresa Gabriel warned him that he should not speak to Ms. Griffin.
Mr. Daugherty continued to do so, however, regarding his disparate pay compared to a less-experienced white employee and about mistreatment of other minority employees. In advance of his layoff, the suit says, the administration ''improperly transferred a white employee out of a classified position into an unclassified position that assumed most of Daugherty’s former duties.''
The suit says the mayor told Mr. Daugherty that he had ''not proved himself'' and that ''others perceived him as being lazy.'' It also says the mayor told him that he might be rehired ''if he behaves himself.''
In the interview, Mr. Daugherty said, ''The mayor’s exact words were, ‘Don’t burn any bridges, don’t do anything stupid. I’m planning to hire you back in a year.’ Those were his exact words.''
Mr. Daugherty, however, joined Ms. Griffin and Mr. Morehead in filing complaints with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
Mr. Morehead filed his first of several complaints with the OCRC in March 2007 but remained a city employee until August, when he was fired. The former co-director of the Youth Commission had gone to then-AA/CC Director Griffin to discuss possible race discrimination issues, the suit says, and the mayor reacted angrily.
''On or about March 3, 2007,'' the suit states, ''Finkbeiner telephoned Morehead yelling and screaming regarding his protected association and activities with Griffin. Finkbeiner demanded that Morehead ‘quit talking to Griffin because right now she is being a real b***h’ and warned that if he did not quit talking to her, Morehead ‘will be canned right along with her.’ He mentioned that Morehead had a family and could not afford to lose his job.''
Asked in the interview whether Mayor Finkbeiner really described Ms. Griffin as a b***h, Mr. Morehead replied. ''Yes, he did.''
Asked if he thought the public would believe the mayor would actually use that slur against a veteran African American employee, he replied, ''Yeah.''
''I think there’s enough evidence out there in the community about Carty’s behavior,'' Ms. Griffin added.
Like Mr. Daugherty, Mr. Morehead did not stop talking to or associating with Ms. Griffin.
The suit summarizes much of what Mr. Morehead has told local media over the past year, including his demotion, a salary cut, and the adverse impact that the ''hostile environment'' had on his diabetes and hypertension.
Mr. Morehead’s physician submitted medical documentation stating that he was temporarily totally disabled and should be given time off work. ''The City of Toledo refused to accept the medical documentation and falsely accused Morehead of forging the documentation,'' the suit says. ''The City did not grant Morehead FMLA leave for these absences and instead charged him with unexcused absences.''
Mr. Morehead initially was suspended without pay for 30 days.
''The stress of this retaliation and threat to his employment aggravated Morehead’s diabetes,'' the suit states. ''On August 16, 2007, his doctor placed him on another medical leave and again submitted appropriate medical documentation. On August 22, 2007, Defendants terminated Morehead’s employment for the stated reason of excessive unexcused absences. The proffered reason is a pretext for race discrimination and retaliation.''
Regarding the work environment, the suit says the mayor’s behavior has caused many high-ranking employees to regard mistreatment of employees as acceptable. It states, ''Finkbeiner’s discriminatory attitudes and practices exhibited in high level director meetings and other official situations are accepted and adopted by his subordinates and trickle down to all levels of the city government. Finkbeiner has created a hostile working environment for Plaintiffs and other African-American employees.''
Ms. Griffin, in the interview, said that situation revealed itself during her investigation into Ms. King-Taylor’s mistreatment. She said the administrator she determined to be responsible for the mistreatment, Tom Kroma, told her that Ms. King-Taylor ''got exactly what she deserved.''
''When you have an administrator telling you that it’s perfectly fine to mistreat a person the way she was mistreated, I think there’s a serious problem in the administration,'' Ms. Griffin said. ''If the mayor has that attitude, then it trickles down to his administrators and that’s exactly what happened.''

I see that Carty finally came out of hiding and is making some comments. Some people find it disturbing that he appears to think, that by making a few African American promotions in his administration, naming a street after an African American Minister and saying he needs to be more visible in the African American Community will cause African Americans to forget that he is accused of doing some very ugly things to African Americans and those things he is accused are illegal. Just because you made the trains run on time doesn't absolve you of everything else.