No women have been allowed to join a squad of 100 city bridge painters, the federal government said in a civil rights lawsuit filed Monday.
The city's Department of Transportation has never hired or offered to hire a woman to paint its 770 elevated bridge structures, although several have applied, the government said in a lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
A city lawyer, Georgia Pestana, responded: "We are confident the court will determine that DOT's hiring practices for bridge painters comply with civil service requirements and are gender neutral.''
But the government said the civil service requirements have not been met, in part because the city has not administered a civil service examination for bridge painters since 1992.
The city's civil service process requires that bridge painters be hired from lists following an open and competitive examination, but the city has evaded the process by hiring painters on a temporary basis, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting the city from engaging in discriminatory employment practices and forcing the city to follow a fair, open and competitive selection process for its painters.
It also seeks job offers with retroactive seniority and back pay with interest for women who lost their chances at jobs.
According to the lawsuit, the city has hired 13 of 56 people who have applied to be bridge painters since Oct. 31, 1997. During that time, four women have applied for jobs but none was hired.
The Department of Justice notified the city of its probe and tried to negotiate a settlement but failed, the lawsuit said.
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