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Message from the Office of Civil Rights OCR's highlights of 2001 demonstrate the power of collaboration. We coordinated a talented Countywide employee group presenting the annual County Celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. OCR led a broad coalition of groups offering fair housing training. After September 11, we worked proactively with other community organizations against backlash discrimination and harassment. In partnership, we achieved so much more than we could have alone. The 2002 budget, adopted in 2001, reorganized County government in response to the County's projected deficit. Beginning in January 2002, the Office of Civil Rights Enforcement (OCRE) became the King County Office of Civil Rights (OCR) with added responsibilities: staffing the Civil Rights Commission and working with County departments on compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws. With the reorganization, we welcomed three new staff members! To avoid confusion, we will refer to ourselves as OCR throughout this report. King County government is committed to fighting discrimination effectively both inside and out. We appreciate your support of our efforts and your own work to eliminate discrimination. We are not alone in our mission! The Staff of the King County Office of Civil Rights Our Mission We are a King County government office which seeks to eliminate discrimination through education, mediation, and enforcement that is responsive to the needs of a diverse King County. |
| When justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. -- Frederick Douglass |
Overview The King County Office of Civil Rights works with County departments to ensure access to government facilities, services and programs for people with disabilities. We implement the County's anti-discrimination ordinances pertaining to housing, employment, public accommodations (services like gas stations, barbers and stores) and contracting. These ordinances apply in unincorporated King County, to County government and to those contracting with the County. On January 1, 2002, we added the staffing of the Civil Rights Commission and Title VI assistance to our responsibilities. We also coordinate the annual celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Back to Top Services to the Community Education, Investigation, Mediation, Resolution Education is a critical way to fight discrimination. We provide group training sessions and also work with individuals. We have an array of information available in print and on our web site: www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre. We talk to people who feel they have been the victims of discrimination and explain the laws and options. If they decide to file a complaint with us, we investigate the issues, using mediation when appropriate to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. If we do find evidence of discrimination, we can order monetary compensation and other means to stop future discrimination. We assist County departments in making their facilities, services and programs accessible for people with disabilities. We accept grievances from individuals who think County government has not been accessible and work to resolve access issues. In 2002, we will have a similar role with non-discrimination obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Back to Top OCR's Role Ordinance Enforcement-- Impartial Third Parties: When we investigate and resolve complaints filed under the housing, employment, public accommodations and contracting ordinances, we are neutral and do not advocate for either side. Disability Access and Title VI--Support to County Departments and Grievance Resolution: We support County departments in complying with County policies and laws requiring access for people with disabilities and non-discrimination in County facilities, services and programs. We also receive and resolve grievances in these areas. Education: We provide information to both the public and County personnel to prevent discrimination and to let people know that remedies are available. Back to Top Anti-discrimination Laws Protect Us All! We still hear from people who think that the laws only protect "minorities" or women, or that Initiative 200 ended protections against discrimination. WRONG! All of us are covered, no matter what our race, national origin, gender, marital status, color, sexual orientation, religion, disability or age. While I-200 ended many "affirmative action" programs, the laws still prohibit discrimination. Back to Top |
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Employment A new employee complained that she was not notified of performance deficiencies that resulted in an inaccurate final probationary evaluation and longer probation. She believed this treatment was due to her race and gender. During the investigation, OCR discovered that the employer did not do an interim probationary evaluation. With the agreement of the employee who had since moved to new employment, the employer rescinded the final probationary evaluation to resolve the complaint. |
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Ordinance Enforcement: Employment, Housing, Public Accommodations, Contracting Practices Complaints Received-Bases of Complaints In 2001, OCR opened 16 fair employment cases, 12 fair housing cases and no public accommodations or fair contracting practices cases. Yearly filings are presented in Chart 1. Chart 2 shows the types of discrimination prohibited under each ordinance and the number of complaints filed on each basis. The top issue in employment cases was different terms and conditions (such as discipline, assignments and harassment). Different terms and conditions (notices, policies, etc.) also topped the list of housing issues, with eviction second. Chart 1
Chart 2
Back to Top Case Resolution Our goal is to resolve cases as quickly as possible. Pre-Finding Settlements. If a case can be resolved to the satisfaction of the parties without investigation and OCR believes the result benefits the public, the agreement will be written down, signed by all and monitored by OCR. Two employment cases and eight housing cases were resolved with a pre-finding settlement. Terms of the agreements included monetary compensation, a change in shift assignment, anti-discrimination and diversity training and a dispute resolution process. One housing case was partially resolved when two Respondents agreed to pay $16,000 damages to the Charging Party. Administrative Closures. Two employment cases and one housing case were administratively closed for reasons including the filing of a case in court and failure of a Charging Party to cooperate. Three employment cases were withdrawn, including one that was resolved to the Charging Party's satisfaction. One housing case was withdrawn. Investigations. OCR closed 18 employment and 12 housing cases after full investigations that found insufficient or no evidence of discrimination. Charging Parties can request that OCR reconsider such findings. Administrative Law Hearings. One public accommodations case was closed after a full hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. OCR had found reasonable cause to believe discrimination had occurred when a neighborhood restaurant excluded a man dressed as a woman. The Judge found that the circumstances justified the expulsion. Chart 3
Back to Top Education on the Ordinances OCR continues to explore better ways to inform the public and County employees about the nondiscrimination laws. In 2001 alone, we answered over 2200 calls from the public seeking our assistance. In 2001, the Fair Housing Agency Partnership presented quarterly training for housing providers, published quarterly newsletters, staffed a booth at the "Trends" housing trade show and co-sponsored the Tacoma Fair Housing Conference in April. We expanded our partnership activities to include training sessions for attorneys and investigators, presented with the assistance of Columbia Legal Services, the King County Bar Association and King County Community and Human Services. The partnership also developed sample policies and a fair housing poster for housing providers. Implementation activities on the new partnership grant to increase outreach to new immigrants proved very challenging. This work will pay off in 2002 with our new ability to reach people who have limited English proficiency. Our OCR training program included many workshops for housing providers, including several in partnership with other organizations. For example, we worked with the King County Bar Association, the Northwest Justice Project, City of Seattle agencies and other County staff on a training session designed to address the special issues of non-profit housing providers. After the September 11 tragedy, we developed a brochure and web-based resources for people concerned about backlash activities. We hosted a forum for County employees to learn more about Arab culture and to speak out about how they were affected emotionally. The resulting discussion was very powerful. We continue to make our web site more user-friendly with information added and updated frequently. Visit it at www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre. Back to Top |
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| Special Project-- Remembering Dr. King: The Vision, The Mission, The Man On January 11, 2001, a group of employees from throughout King County government presented the annual celebration honoring Dr. King, King County's namesake. The 5th Avenue Theatre again welcomed us, along with our featured singer, dancers, drummers and keynote speaker, Seattle Municipal Court Judge Judith Hightower. High points of the Celebration included the presentation of the Humanitarian Awards to the Undoing Institutional Racism Work Group of the Department of Community and Human Services and to Hank Bradberry from the Parks Department. OCR coordinates the celebration every year. |
OCR Team 2001/2002 Team Members Roxanne Vierra, Civil Rights/Disability Compliance SpecialistNew Team Members for 2002 Haberdean West, Customer Service SpecialistDepartment of Information and Administrative Services 2001 Jim Buck, Acting DirectorDepartment of Executive Services 2002 Paul Tanaka, County Administrative OfficerBack to Top How to Reach Us We want everyone to understand their rights and responsibilities under the laws. We are available to answer your questions whether you are a tenant or housing provider, employee or employer, if you use or provide public accommodations, or if you are a contractor. We can also answer questions relating to disability access to County facilities, services and programs and to non-discrimination in County services. If you believe you have been discriminated against, contact us to discuss the situation. If you decide to file a complaint or grievance, we will explain the steps to you. We provide training sessions and written materials on selected topics. Please contact us for more information. We welcome your suggestions. We want to hear from you! King County Office of Civil RightsThe building entrance is on Terrace Street. While the building is accessible, it is on a steep hillside. We can arrange to meet in alternate locations. 206-296-7592Our services are available to all. Please inform us if you need reasonable accommodations due to disability, need this brochure in alternate formats, or need information translated into other languages. Updated: Apr. 30, 2002 |
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