Press Release
06/25/08 -
Vedder Price Wins Trial for The Post-Tribune Company
[Chicago, June 25] Vedder Price Shareholders Steven Hamann and Aaron Gelb successfully defended The Post- Tribune Company in a discrimination case charging that the Merrillville, Indiana newspaper refused to promote Plaintiff Kim Steele, the paper’s Deputy Lifestyle Editor, to Gary Bureau Editor in March 2005. Ms. Steele, who resigned in December 2007, claimed that she had been passed over for the Gary job, which was given to an African-American candidate, because she is Caucasian.
After Ms. Steele filed a race discrimination charge with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she claimed her once promising career at the paper was derailed as she was passed over for several other promotions and subjected to slights by supervisors in retaliation for filing her discrimination charge. Ms. Steele further alleged that she was constructively discharged.
According to Mr. Hamann: “the person ultimately hired was black, but the African-American candidate had a more impressive resume than that of Ms. Steele and was head and shoulders more experienced and qualified then she was. And, once the decision had been made, Ms. Steele had a number of performance issues and developed a problem of absenteeism.”
"While we disagree profoundly with Kim Steele's allegations, which the jury quickly judged to be unfounded, we hope she can now get on with her life and career," said the Post-Tribune’s Publisher, Murdoch Davis. "We sincerely wish her well."
After a trial lasting six days, the jury returned a verdict in favor of The Post-Tribune on both the race discrimination and retaliation claims in less than 90 minutes.
Vedder Price is a business-oriented law firm of more than 260 attorneys with offices in Chicago, New York and Washington, D. C. Vedder Price is ranked among the top 10 law firms specializing in labor and employment law in the United States. Steven C. Hamann is a Shareholder in the firm’s Labor and Employment practice. He has more than 20 years of experience in counseling and defending employers in a broad range of labor and employment matters. Aaron R. Gelb is a Shareholder in the firm’s Labor and Employment practice with more than 12 years of experience in dealing with wrongful discharge and discrimination litigation.
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