March 23

March 23, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cheryl Bergian

(701) 239-9323

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Has Joined

In a Class Action Lawsuit Against the

North Dakota Department of Labor

Fargo – The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition has joined in a class action lawsuit against the North Dakota Department of Labor (Division of Human Rights).

“The Division of Human Rights in the North Dakota Department of Labor is the enforcement agency for discrimination complaints in North Dakota,” said Cheryl Bergian, Director of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition. “But, they’ve refused to enforce the North Dakota Human Rights Act for people who file complaints of discrimination, and need to be held accountable for that failure.”

“Since August, 2001, the Labor Commissioner has had the mandatory obligation to take meritable complaints of discrimination to an administrative hearing so that an independent Administrative Law Judge can rule on the claim and determine an appropriate remedy,” said Mark Schneider, the attorney for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition and Rick Folstrom. “Despite having this mandatory duty for over two and one-half years, Commissioner Bachmeier has not taken one case to an administrative hearing, as required by the North Dakota Human Rights Act.”

“The Labor Commissioner is also required to make a ‘probable cause’ determination on each complaint filed to determine whether the complaint has merit. Commissioner Bachmeier has refused to make ‘probable cause’ determinations regarding the vast majority of complaints filed with his office. Without the ‘probable cause’ determinations, neither the complaining party nor the person accused of discrimination have the benefit of the Commissioner of Labor’s opinion as to whether the complaint has merit,’ said Mark Schneider. “This abdication of Commission Bachmeier’s legal responsibilities make the state policy of freedom from illegal discrimination under the North Dakota Human Rights Act a hollow promise. If we accept in North Dakota that illegal discrimination is a denial of simple justice – and we have, by passing the North Dakota Human Rights Act – then failure to enforce those rights is a mockery of justice,” Mark Schneider said in conclusion.

“The Labor Commissioner says that he is committed to the enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act, but his actions do not match his words,” Bergian continued. “He refused to enforce the state law against discrimination for Richard Folstrom, and he does not take advantage of opportunities to inform workers in this state that the Division of Human Rights is available for complaints of discrimination, like the sexual harassment situations in the Capitol Building in Bismarck or in the state court system in Fargo. Why would people file complaints with the Division of Human Rights when it doesn’t appear that they want to enforce the state anti-discrimination law? This lawsuit could require the Department of Labor’s Division of Human Rights to do the work that the North Dakota Human Rights Act requires them to do.”

Cheryl Bergian referred to the significant number of female Public Service Commission employees who brought forward sexual harassment complaints against a Public Service Commissioner in 2003, which were complaints of sexual harassment incidents over decades, and the current sexual harassment allegations against a district court judge in Fargo, which were similarly complaints of incidents over years. There was much media attention to the women’s concern that there they didn’t know where to file complaints and fear over retaliation if they complained within the workplace. Commissioner Bachmeier made no effort to inform the public that the Division of Human Rights is the place to file complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace and that the state human rights law prohibits retaliation for doing so. Indeed, the investigation that substantiated the sexual harassment complaints within the Public Service Commission was by the state highway patrol, rather than the Division of Human Rights in the North Dakota Department of Labor, and the investigation of the sexual harassment complaints in the district court system in Fargo was through a judicial ethics complaint.

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition has advocated for better enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act in the last several legislative sessions through a North Dakota Commission on Human Rights, to no avail. “If the legislature had created a North Dakota Commission on Human Rights, this class action lawsuit against the state could have been avoided,” said Allan Peterson, Chair of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors. The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition has asked that there be an Advisory Committee created for the Division of Human Rights in the Department of Labor; Governor Hoeven has refused to create that Advisory Committee. “If Governor Hoeven had created an Advisory Committee for the Division of Human Rights, there could have been better enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act than we’ve seen to date,” according to Allan Peterson.

The NDHRC is a diverse group of approximately 30 organizations, with additional individual members, all of whom embrace the mission of the NDHRC, to: “work to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.” More information on the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition can be found at www.ndhrc.org.