SANDRA J. WHALEY, Complainant,

 

and

 

IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION,

vs.

 

CITY OF DES MOINES, Respondent.

 

DECISION AND ORDER

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that:

A. Complainant, Sandra J. Whaley and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission are entitled to judgment because they have established that the failure to hire Complainant Whaley by the Respondent City of Des Moines was based on sex discrimination in violation of Iowa Code Section 601A.6 (now 216.6).

B. Complainant Whaley is entitled to a judgment of eighteen thousand seven hundred eighty-nine dollars and seventy-two cents ($18,789.72) in back pay against Respondent City of Des Moines for the loss resulting from the failure to hire her.

C. Complainant Whaley is entitled to a judgment of five thousand five hundred twenty-two dollars and seventy- five cents ($5522.75) in back (matching) deferred compensation against Respondent City of Des Moines for the loss resulting from the failure to hire her.

D. Complainant Whaley is entitled to a judgment of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) in compensatory damages against Respondent City of Des Moines for the emotional distress she sustained as a result of the discrimination practiced against her by the Respondent.

E. Interest at the rate of ten percent per annum shall be paid by Respondent City of Des Moines to Complainant Whaley on her awards of back pay and back deferred compensation, as set forth in paragraphs B, C, and G of this order, commencing on the date payment would have been made if Complainant had been hired into the Recreation Supervisor position on January 11, 1988 and continuing until date of payment.

F. Interest at the rate of ten percent per annum shall be paid by Respondent City of Des Moines to Complainant Whaley on the above award of emotional distress damages commencing on the date this decision becomes final, either by Commission decision or by operation of law, and continuing until date of payment.

G. Under the authority of City of Des Moines Police Department v. Iowa Civil Rights Commission, 343 N.W.2d 836, 839-40 (Iowa 1984), the Respondent City of Des Moines shall provide to the district court, on enforcement of this order, affidavits setting forth the data necessary for the district court to calculate the amounts of back pay and of deferred compensation due Complainant Whaley for the year 1984 under the standards set forth in Findings of Fact Nos. 121 and 122.

H. Respondent City of Des Moines shall pay front pay and front deferred compensation to Complainant Whaley as set forth in Findings of Fact Nos. 124 and 125.

I. Respondent City of Des Moines is hereby ordered to cease and desist from any further practices of sex discrimination in hiring.

J. Respondent City of Des Moines shall post, within sixty (60) days of the date of this order, in conspicuous places at its the Park and Recreation Department central office and the five community centers, in areas readily accessible to and frequented by employees, the notice, entitled "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law" which is available from the Commission.

K. Within sixty (60) days after the day this order becomes final, Respondent City of Des Moines shall institute a written policy informing all personnel at the Park and Recreation Department with the authority to hire or recommend for hire that: (a) all hiring and recommendations for hire shall be made with the understanding that it is usually up to the applicant able to perform a job to determine whether or not a job is too dangerous for him or her; (b) stereotypical concerns about jobs or locations being "too dangerous for women" have no place in the hiring process; and (c) applicants may, nevertheless, be uniformly informed of dangers or hazards associated with particular jobs. This policy is subject to the approval of the Commission's representative. In the event agreement cannot be reached, the Commission's version of this policy shall be distributed.

L. Within 120 days of this order, the current incumbents of the Park and Recreation Department Director and Recreation Superintendent positions shall review, and maintain available for reference, the publication Successfully Interviewing Job Applicants which is available from the Commission.

M. Respondent City of Des Moines shall file a report with the Commission within 120 calendar days of the date of this order detailing what steps it has taken to comply with paragraphs H through K inclusive of this order.

Signed this the 27th day of December, 1994.

_______________________________

DONALD W. BOHLKEN

Administrative Law Judge

Iowa Civil Rights Commission

211 E. Maple

Des Moines, Iowa 50309

515-281-4480