NEW YORK - Prominent attorney Willie E. Gary announced today that he will spearhead the legal team in a class action discrimination lawsuit against the State of New York, on behalf of members of African American and Hispanic civil servants.

Merton Simpson, one of the class representatives and president of the upstate/Albany Chapter of Blacks in Government, civic leaders and civil servants joined Gary and his law partners, CK Hoffler and Maria Sperando and associate attorney Mary Diaz of the Florida- based law firm of Gary, Williams, Parenti, Finney, Lewis, McManus, Watson and Sperando, P.L. Gary and his team have joined forces with New York attorney Michael Sussman in an effort to expose the discriminatory actions that were taken by New York State that may potentially impact tens of thousands of African American and Hispanic state employees.

The press conference was held on the steps of City Hall in New York, Thursday, July 28, 2005, at 9:00 a.m., to highlight Gary joining the legal team and to discuss what actions will be taken. Attending the press conference were the Honorable Arthur O. Eve, Former Deputy Speaker of NY State Assembly and member of the Assembly for 36 years and current President/Founder, Freedom, Justice and Hope, Inc., Assemblyman Peter Rivera, Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network, members of Blacks in Government (BIG), the NAACP, Urban League, Rainbow PUSH and other civic groups. The press conference preceded Simpson's testimony for Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera's Assembly Hearings on the same topic, which focused on the unfair testing practices of the New York State Battery Test and under representative of African Americans and Hispanics in New York State Government agencies.

The charges levied against the state's Battery Test, used as an indicator in a broad range of supervisory and managerial positions, is that the test has a disparate impact on African Americans and Hispanics and does not meet the validity criteria under EEOC's Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. New York is not the only state that has a "battery" test. There may be as many as 18 other states that have implemented some form of a battery test similar to New York.

Plaintiffs won a major victory on July 8, 2005, when District Judge David N. Hurd of the Northern District of New York certified the class allowing African Americans and Hispanics victimized by New York State's Testing Program to sue the State as a Class rather than as individuals.

"Years of compensation have been affected and families have suffered undue hardship because of these unfair tests," says Willie E. Gary. "It is unfathomable that something like this could happen in today's society," Gary adds. "Since the days of Dr. King, our nation has come so far in the area of race relations. It just goes to show that there is much more work to be done. This type of oppression forces us to reflect on the values of this country and the civil rights Dr. King and Rosa Parks fought for, and we seek justice. It's about doing what's right and recognizing that everyone is equal. It is our hope that the State of New York will do the right thing and bring justice to the many people who were negatively affected."

Gary's legal team is noted for winning a $240 million jury verdict in Orange County against the Walt Disney Corporation for their clients who alleged Disney stole their idea for a sports theme park. They were also awarded $18.28 million against the media conglomerate Gannett Company for the false portrayal of their client in a series of newspaper articles, one of the largest verdicts against a media outlet in the southeastern United States. In 2001, a jury awarded Gary a $139.6 million verdict for the Maris Distributing Company against Anheuser Busch. In addition, Gary was given a half-billion dollar verdict in Jackson, Mississippi, against the Loewen Group, a large Canadian funeral home chain. Gary also serves as legal counsel for pop entertainer Michael Jackson and boxing promoter Don King.
Report: Documenting Troubling Under Representation of Hispanics & African Americans in New York State Government Agencies

Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera, Chairman of the New York State Puerto Rican/Hispanic Taskforce, joined by representatives of the Hispanic and African-American state workforce, released a report documenting the under representation of minorities in New York's Civil Service system.

Some of the findings of the report include:

* Today, Hispanics make up over 16% of the entire state population but account for only 3.8% or 6,515 of the 169,571 jobs in the state government workforce. In real terms, this is a decline by close to 1,000 jobs since 1991 or a 12.2% reduction in the number of Hispanic state workers. This reduction came during a period when the Hispanic population in New York grew by 33%.

* Since 1991, the African-American civil service workforce has seen a dramatic decline. The 8,836 jobs lost by this group represent a 26.7% decline in the African-American state workforce. This reduction came during a period when the African-American population in New York grew by 13.1%.

* For African-Americans, the loss of the 8,836 jobs at the average state salary of $53,000 translates into a loss of over $468 million in annual salaries. For Hispanics, their under representation translates into a loss of over $860 million in annual salaries. Law Offies of Gary, Williams & Parenti

Web site: http://www.williegary.com/