NEW YORK, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In an action that is expected to have
profound implications for minority employees who have worked at the Jacob K.
Javits Convention Center over the past nine years, Judge Constance Baker
Motley, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has
certified a class action encompassing most minority employees who worked at
the Javits Center from July 1, 1995 to the present. The plaintiffs are
represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP and Leeds Morelli & Brown,
P.C.

Judge Motley summarized plaintiffs' claims as follows:

Plaintiffs allege a work environment in which pervasive racism not only
cripples earning potential, partly through dishonest manipulation of a
supposedly random system of work assignment, and jeopardizes the jobs of
those who are subjected to retaliation and/or discriminatory discipline,
but also infects the work environment, manifesting itself in the form of
vicious verbal slurs, physical attacks, and death threats. Were those
allegations to prove true, reform would be urgent, and long overdue for
those who allege that they have suffered ongoing retaliation in response
to their complaints.

This action may greatly affect the way the Javits Center conducts business
as it is believed that the class will consist of hundreds of employees.
Plaintiffs allege that many of these minority employees have repeatedly been
subjected to racially offensive comments of the most highly offensive nature,
both verbally and through graffiti scrawled on the wall.
The plaintiffs' complaint also alleges that the Caucasian males who
operate the Javits Center have discriminated against Black and Hispanic
carpenters, freight handlers and part-time housekeepers by: (1) manipulating
the job allocation and promotion system to give Caucasian male employees
preferences with respect to the type and amount of work assigned, and greater
opportunities to obtain higher paying jobs at the Javits Center; (2) denying
these Black and Hispanic employees various privileges of employment and
singling them out for reprimand because of their race; and (3) subjecting
these Black and Hispanic employees to retaliation for complaining to
management about this discrimination. In addition, the action includes three
individual Caucasian plaintiffs who claim that they have been retaliated
against for complaining about pervasive and overt racism at the Javits Center.
Plaintiffs allege that the Javits Center's employment policies and
practices violate various federal and state civil rights laws, and seek both
injunctive and monetary relief. In support of their motion for class
certification, plaintiffs provided the court with affidavits of several Javits
Center employees describing the discrimination and retaliation they have
endured and observed at the Javits Center. The plaintiffs also provided other
materials supporting class certification, including union grievance forms
alleging discrimination, prior complaints to the New York State Division of
Human Rights, complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, and statistical evidence demonstrating that the plaintiffs and
class members received fewer work calls and earned less than their Caucasian
counterparts.
The case is captioned David Cokely, et al., v. The New York Convention
Center Operating Corporation d/b/a Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New
York, et al., E.D.N.Y., No. 00 Civ. 4637 (CBM).
Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, is a 110-lawyer firm with main
headquarters in New York City and other offices nationwide, including Boca
Raton, FL, Los Angeles, CA, Wilmington, DE, Washington D.C. and Seattle, WA.
The firm that Melvyn I. Weiss and Lawrence Milberg founded in 1965 will
celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. The firm has been actively engaged
in complex commercial litigation, emphasizing securities, consumer, insurance,
healthcare, corporate, human rights, employment discrimination and antitrust
class actions. The firm's reputation for excellence has been recognized on
repeated occasions by courts that have appointed it to major positions in
complex multi-district or consolidated litigations. Milberg Weiss has
successfully prosecuted thousands of class action lawsuits, has taken a lead
role in numerous complex litigations on behalf of defrauded investors,
consumers and companies, as well as victims of World War II human rights
violations, and has been responsible for more than $45 billion in recoveries.
For more information, please visit http://www.milbergweiss.com.
Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., is one of the premiere litigation and
Alternative Dispute Resolution firms in the New York Metropolitan area and is
considered to be one of the foremost authorities in the area of Employment
Law, particularly in the area of Civil Rights and Discrimination Law. Leeds,
Morelli & Brown focuses on the areas of Employment and Civil Rights Law and
represents clients in litigation and before administrative and/or regulatory
agencies in matters involving employment discrimination, wrongful discharge,
or violations of other federal, state or local laws.