AU employees may file lawsuit

By: Ed Enoch staff writer | Opelika Auburn News
Published: March 17, 2010

A complaint by Auburn University employees alleging discriminatory pay may become a lawsuit after negotiations mediated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission failed to produce a solution in last month.
“We feel like we were given the runaround,” Tyrone Durrell said.
Building specialists, including Durrell, and their lawyer, Julian McPhillips, met with EEOC mediators and university representatives in a closed-door meeting Feb. 22 to try to find a solution.
McPhillips said the employees were asking to be paid as much as their white co-workers and for “modest” back pay for the last two years.
But the university offered the black employees the opportunity to move to first shift as slots become available and other options, Durrell said.
McPhillips said AU defended its equal opportunity position and its pay practices, saying the white workers were properly given credit for their work histories on their applications.
The complaint, filed in October by Durrell and six other workers in the Student Center, alleges white employees were paid more than black
co-workers with the same pay grade who had more experience. The employees who work the second shift at the Student Center are responsible for floor maintenance and other custodial duties, Durrell said.
“We were hoping Auburn University would offer us something meaningful so we wouldn’t have to go through to litigation,” McPhillips said.
Auburn University, which began its own investigation after being notified by the EEOC in November, will continue to work with the employees to find a solution, said Mike Clardy, Director of University Communications.
“At this point, the EEOC process is ongoing,” Clardy said. “We’re working toward a solution.”
EEOC investigations can last anywhere from three to six months.
The employees must wait six months from the complaint to file a lawsuit stemming from the EEOC case. However, McPhillips said he hopes to file sooner under Title 42, Chapter 21 of the US. Code 1981, which guarantees equal rights.