The Washington Post
January 12, 1993, Tuesday, Final Edition
Fairfax Concedes Police Bias;
Board to Settle Cases Of 8 Female Officers
BYLINE: Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, conceding that its
police promotion procedures discriminated against women, yesterday agreed to
settle most of the federal bias complaints filed by female officers last year.
The board voted unanimously to grant promotions or take other personnel actions
sought by the women in eight of 10 cases lodged with the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission last spring. The settlements included no punitive
damages, and the other two complaints will go forward, officials
said."We're trying to do the right thing," Board Chairman Thomas M.
Davis III (R) said. "We asked [county officials] to take a clear, hard
look, and we feel justice will be accomplished here."
"What we did today was to say, 'Fair is fair,' and if
there was something that was done incorrectly, we want to correct it,"
Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) said. When the women first went to the
EEOC, it caused an uproar within the department that resulted in the withdrawal
of the front-runner to succeed retiring Police Chief John E. Granfield. To
restore order in the department and to answer complaints that a "good old
boy network" was running the department, the board recruited retired
deputy chief Michael W. Young to return to Fairfax to take over the troubled
946-officer force.Under the tentative agreement approved yesterday, three women
would be promoted from police officer first class to master police officer, and
three would be promoted from sergeant to second lieutenant. One officer would
receive a transfer she requested, and one would have an unflattering letter
removed from her personnel file.Five of those granted promotions would receive
back pay to July 1990, and the sixth, who has since retired, would receive back
pay to June 1989.The exact cost to the county was not released."We're very
happy that it will be done,'' Ben DiMuro, an attorney for the women, said last
night. He said he would not comment further until the settlement papers are
signed.Davis said an investigation ordered by the board concluded that six of
the women were denied promotions because the evaluation system was tilted
against them. In some cases, he said, the women were not given assignments in
the field and then essentially penalized for not having street experience when
they sought promotions.Officials said the process has been changed and made
more fair since the EEOC complaints were filed. Davis said no one would be
disciplined for treating the women unfairly.The discontent revealed by the EEOC
cases last year also resulted in similar complaints about the department from
black officers. Davis met in June with more than two dozen officers, most of
them black men, to hear their concerns, but none of the EEOC cases filed last
year involved racial discrimination.Since his appointment as chief, Young has
moved aggressively to deal with the unhappiness, naming the first black station
commander, cracking down on sexually explicit material in lockers and revamping
some procedures.In other action yesterday, the board:Reversed one of its most
unpopular budget cuts by restoring full-time aides to school health clinics.
Since funds were slashed last spring, schools have had to use parent
volunteers, secretaries and teachers to tend to ailing students for about two
hours every day.Agreed to give Davis an extra $ 50,000 for his office budget.
The chairman traditionally receives the same amount, $ 230,000 a year, as the
nine district supervisors, but Davis said he deserves more because he
represents the whole county and receives as many as 300 letters a day.Rejected
a move to endorse Gov. L. Douglas Wilder's (D) gun-control package on a
party-line 6 to 4 vote. The Republican majority decided to refer the matter to
committee. Davis said he wants to trade the board's endorsement for the
governor's support on issues such as transportation funding.Delayed a decision
on a proposal to start cable television shows for each of the 10 board members.
The board, bogged down in a lengthy debate, decided to take up the issue again
in two weeks.