The Houston Chronicle
May 27, 1998, Wednesday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 19

HEADLINE: Lawsuit says collections firm wouldn't give top jobs to blacks

BYLINE: DEBORAH TEDFORD

BODY: A Houston-based collections firm actively discouraged the hiring of blacks for top management and high-profile positions, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by a current employee and two former ones.

Billie Latson, Debra Shelly and Ronnie Walker said they were not considered for posts in marketing or put into training for managerial positions, despite their seniority at GC Services Limited Partnership. Latson is still with the company.

According to the lawsuit, principal owner J.B. Katz allegedly has said the company would not promote blacks who were high scorers on promotional tests because the market was "not ready" to accept minorities in such positions.

During discussions with managers in Houston about compliance with federally mandated nondiscrimination policies, Katz also is alleged to have said blacks would never hold marketing or top management positions, the suit states.

And the company used a "ghost" booking procedure to conceal the higher pay and bonuses given to white employees, the suit alleges.

Joseph VanNest, general counsel for GC Services, refused to comment.

But Bill Audet, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the company's discriminatory practices spawned a similar lawsuit in Atlanta. He is seeking class certification for the suit filed in Houston, where the collections service employs about 500 people.

GC Services has a work force of 2,000 in 40 offices nationwide. The company has collection contracts with the city of Houston and the Internal Revenue Service, Audet said.

"In direct violation of county, state and federal governmental contracts, GC Services Limited Partnership has specifically - on a classwide basis - engaged in intentional discriminatory practices against African-Americans," Audet said.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.

So much for whites not trying to hold Black people back...

sargent - 11:03am Jun 15, 1998 EST (#6613 of 6613)

ABA Banking Journal

May, 1998

LENGTH: 260 words

HEADLINE: Testing puts lenders in bad light

BYLINE: By Steve Cocheo, executive editor

BODY:

A large matched-pair testing project conducted in Washington, D.C., and environs demonstrated discrimination in more than one third of the tester visits.

The project, sponsored by the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, Inc., found instances of discrimination in 61 out of 150 matched-pair tests. The council's sweep included 72 bank and nonbank lenders.

The project used both black and Hispanic testers paired with whites. African-Americans and Latinos experienced rates of discrimination of 37% and 48%, respectively, according to the group. The Fair Housing Council is a private, not-for-profit fair housing agency. The Department of Housing and Urban Development funded its tests.

The group said disparities were most frequently documented in terms and conditions offered and applied; type of loan product offered; access to agents and services; and service.

Besides statistics, the group offered many vignettes of discrimination; a sampling:

* A black tester was told by one lender that there was no point coming to the office without a credit report being pulled first. A white tester was given an appointment with the same lender with no mention of the report.

* A black tester was told that he could not be assisted unless he brought all of his documentation and was told to return when he had everything together. The same lender allegedly gave the white tester detailed information about home loans without requiring any of his documentation. And the white tester was invited to a training class for first-time homebuyers.