Trial begins in Iowa class-action discrimination case

A trial began Monday in a class-action lawsuit claiming the state of Iowa discriminated against thousands of black people in its hiring practices.

The trial began in Polk County District Court after a judge last week rejected the state's claims the case was too broad to be legally viable.

The lawsuit filed in 2007 was expanded and certified as a class-action case in 2010. It lists 32 plaintiffs who claim they were discriminated against when they applied for a job or sought a promotion in their existing position because they are black. Thomas Newkirk, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the lawsuit encompasses more than 20,000 employment applications and 6,000 black Iowans who encountered discrimination since 2003. I

In a statement before the trial began, Newkirk said the goal of the lawsuit is to work with the state so it can better deal with the causes of discrimination responsibly and "open a discussion about race and what it means to be black in this country.

"It is also the mission of this class and counsel to see affirmative action administered in the way it was intended - not as some quota or goal - but as a serious, methodical process to overcome bias in all forms," Newkirk said.

The state encouraged the certification of the class in 2010 but last week sought to have the case dismissed saying the plaintiffs "could not have brought a less specific case against the (state) departments and their hiring and employment practices."

Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for the Iowa attorney general's office, declined to comment on the case Monday, but in a document filed with the court last week, attorneys with office argued that each department's hiring and employment practices vary, discrediting the plaintiffs' claims.

"Because of the job-specific nature of the employment practices used by Defendants, African Americans' employment successes predictably vary by department, job and step within the hiring practices, contrary to Plaintiffs' unified, albeit nebulous, theory," the document said.

The document also said 85 percent of all merit positions are covered by collective bargaining agreements, "which strictly limits what little discretion exists for the terms and conditions a department may offer a candidate for a particular job."

Judge Robert Blink denied the state's request to dismiss the case, saying the state seemed to be "back pedaling from their agreement to the class certification."

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that his administration hired new department and agency directors and made it clear people should be treated in a "fair and nondiscriminatory way."

"We're trying to get more uniformity and consistency and fairness in terms of the way things are managed in state government, including hiring and accountability in terms of employees that are working for the department and agencies of state government," Branstad said.