Settlement Agreement Approved

On July 15, 2010, the EEOC Administrative Judge issued an Order approving the settlement agreement. The EEOC Order sets the deadline for submission of all Claim Forms as August 30, 2010.

See a copy of the Order here.

Therefore, all Claim Forms must be submitted by August 30, 2010 to:

VA Richmond Claims Administrator
c/o Kator, Parks & Weiser
1200 18th Street, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036

IRS Form W-9

You can access a copy of IRS Form W-9 here.

IRS Form W-9

Class Action Settlement Granted Preliminary Approval

Settlement Agreement

Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Settlement Agreement

For nearly a decade, a class consisting of approximately 2,000 African-American employees of the Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VA Medical Center has pursued a class action discrimination claim before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Class alleged that African-American employees were treated unfairly in the distribution of monetary and non-monetary awards. In March 2009, the EEOC Administrative Judge limited the class to African-American employees while serving in non-supervisory positions from 1996 to the present.

On February 2, 2010, the parties began the administrative hearing before the EEOC Administrative Judge. Class Member and Management witnesses were called to testify. On February 12, 2010, before the hearing before the EEOC was completed, the Agency and the Class Agents reached an agreement to settle the case. The Settlement Agreement was granted preliminary approval by the EEOC Administrative Judge on April 29, 2010.

Summary of Settlement Agreement

The Agency has agreed to provide non-monetary and monetary relief in settlement of the case. Under the Settlement Agreement, all McGuire VA Medical Center employees who believe they should be recognized for high quality accomplishments or contributions, may nominate themselves for awards for which they qualify. Employees may nominate themselves by completing an “Employee Self-Nomination for Incentive Award” form, and providing the form to their first-line supervisor and HR. First-line supervisors must consider the Self-Nomination forms in making awards recommendations in accordance with VA awards policies and practices, and the Self-Nomination forms will be provided to the McGuire VA Medical Center’s Awards Panel for all bargaining unit employees.

In addition, the Agency will deposit $5 million into a Settlement Fund. A Claims Administrator will administer the funds according to provisions of a distribution formula. The formula allocates the recovery in proportion to the injury suffered by each Class Member. The distribution formula provides for relief based on each year during which a Class Member worked as a non-supervisory employee at the McGuire VA Medical Center during the class period. In addition, a portion of the Settlement Fund will be allocated to the Class Members according to contributions made during the class action litigation.

What Comes Next?

A notice of settlement with a copy of the complete Settlement Agreement and distribution formula will be mailed out to all potential Class Members. Class Members must submit a signed Claim Form and Release to obtain monetary relief under the Agreement.

Class Counsel will hold information sessions on the Settlement Agreement and how to make a claim for relief in late May at the McGuire VA Medical Center. Information on the date and location of the information sessions will be provided shortly.

The EEOC Administrative Judge will hold a Fairness Hearing in Richmond on June 23, 2010 at 10:00 AM. At that hearing, the Judge will determine whether the Settlement Agreement is fair, adequate and reasonable to the class as a whole. Any objections to the Settlement Agreement must be properly filed and served within 30 days of receipt of the notice of settlement.

SETTLEMENT IN PRINCIPLE REACHED IN LONG-RUNNING CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST RICHMOND VA MEDICAL CENTER

Richmond, VA, Feb. 16, 2010.

For nearly a decade, a class consisting of approximately 2,000 African-American employees of the Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VA Medical Center has pursued a class action discrimination claim before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Class alleged that African-American employees were treated unfairly in the distribution of monetary and non-monetary awards. After extensive efforts to resolve the case, the parties have now reached an agreement in principle to finally put this matter to rest. The agreement calls for the VA to pay $5 million to the Class and to modify its awards policies to allow employees to nominate themselves for awards. In addition, specific relief will be granted to the two class agents, Anniemarie Harrison-Gray and Beverly Hatcher.

Michael Kator, an attorney for the Class, said “It is particularly gratifying to announce this settlement as we commemorate Lincoln’s Birthday. President Lincoln’s vision was ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.’ This case has always been about providing the best care for our veterans and that includes providing the best working environment for the thousands of VA employees who provide that care. Disputes over the awards policies have dragged down employee morale for years and caused many exceptional employees to leave the VA for other employment. Settling this case will be an enormous boost to the morale of African-American employees of the Richmond Medical Center and this will ultimately redound to the benefit of our veterans.”

Thousands of hours of attorney time were spent in litigating this case over the past decade. A portion of the settlement will go toward fees and expenses of the litigation. The Class is represented by of the Washington, DC law firm of Kator, Parks & Weiser, PLLC, including lead counsel Cathy Harris and attorneys Jeremy Wright and Kerrie Riggs. Office Manager Ramona Cohen was an indispensable part of the legal team. Ms. Harris said, “We greatly appreciate the VA’s willingness to examine this issue with an open mind. Reaching this settlement took an extraordinary effort on the part of everyone involved.” The Class Agents are Anniemarie Harrison-Gray and Beverly Hatcher, both nurses at the Richmond VA Medical Center and themselves veterans. Ms. Harrison-Gray is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who served two tours in Iraq. Ms. Hatcher served in the Army on active duty for a decade, and has since been employed by the VA for 17 years.

See the complete Settlement Agreement here.

January 2010 Update

The hearing before the Administrative Judge will begin at the VA Medical Center on February 1, 2010. The Judge has limited the number of class members who can testify at the hearing. Those class members who will testify have been notified. The hearing is expected to take up to six weeks.

After a decision is reached, all class members will receive a notice regarding what steps to take next. If you do not testify as a witness at the hearing, you still will be able to participate in this case.

For additional information, please contact kriggs@katorparks.com.

March 2009 Update

On March 27, 2009, the EEOC Administrative Judge (AJ) issued an order denying the Class’ motion for sanctions against the Agency, denying the Class’ motion to compel the 2008 Fiscal Year data, and amending the scheduling order.

The AJ’s order clarifies his previous decision stating supervisory employees are no longer a part of the Class for the period of time that they were supervisors. The Agency should be mailing notices soon to those employees who the Agency considered to be supervisors at any time between 1996 and the present. If you receive a notice from the Agency, and believe that you were wrongfully identified as a supervisor, you should fill out the Objection Form attached to the notice and send it to the AJ.

Please contact Class Counsel if you receive such a notice, and any of the following apply to you: (1) the Agency mistakenly classified you as a supervisor, (2) the Agency provided the incorrect dates that you were a supervisory employee, or (3) you were classified as a supervisor, but you were never in a position to recommend awards for other employees.

Additionally, the AJ has set the hearing for February 1, 2010 through February 26, 2010, at the McGuire VA Medical Center.

March 2009 Order

Amended Scheduling Order Entered

The EEOC Administrative Judge has issued an amended Scheduling Order for the case. The Order sets out the schedule for the discovery of expert information.

Amended Scheduling Order

June 2007 Status Update - Order

The Agency had sought production of the class members' questionnaire responses. On June 27, 2007, the EEOC Administrative Judge issued an Order holding that Class Counsel did not have to produce the questionnaire responses to the Agency.

Order Regarding Questionnaire Responses

March 2007 Status Update

On March 9, 2007, we received additional discovery information from the Agency. We also provided the Agency with supplementary discovery responses on March 9, 2007. The Agency has promised to provide us with additional electronic data. Once this data has been received, we will conduct a conference call with the Agency’s IT designee to further explore the data. Our next status conference call with Judge Schreffler is on April 13, 2007. Discovery is continuing.

Discovery Order Issued

The EEOC Administrative Judge issued an Order requiring the Agency to produce additional records that were sought by the class. Discovery in the case is ongoing.

EEOC Discovery Order

On October 5, 2005, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission certified the class of all African American employees, past and present, who have worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs McGuire facility in Richmond, Virginia at any time from 1996 to the present and have been discriminated against with respect to the Agency’s policies and practices in the selection of and distribution of monetary and non-monetary awards, including but not limited to special contribution awards, on-the-spot and time-off awards, quality step increases, gain-sharing awards, honor awards, and other monetary and non-monetary awards. The law firm of Kator, Parks & Weiser has been approved to serve as Class Counsel in the case.

Class Counsel will now have the opportunity to conduct discovery in the case. Over the next months, we will be gathering information regarding the case.

If you believe that: (1) you are a class member according to the above definition, and (2) you currently have a pending EEO complaint in the informal or formal stage, and pending before either the VA or the EEOC, please contact Class Counsel immediately so that we can take action to preserve your rights as a class member.

On November 21, 2005, Class Counsel met with a number of class members at the Richmond facility. The meeting was an opportunity for class members to meet with Class Counsel and ask questions regarding the case. Class Counsel also encouraged all class members to contact us with anecdotes regarding discriminatory actions against African American employees at the Richmond facility.

On December 5, 2005, the Agency filed a motion to “redefine” the class, for reconsideration of certain matters already rejected by the Administrative Judge, and to halt discovery. Because Class Counsel believed that all of the matters raised by the Agency had already been decided in favor of the class during the parties’ last status call with the Judge, we wrote to the Administrative Judge on December 8, 2005, stating, “[b]ecause the Agency’s motion appears to address issues that were thoroughly discussed and wholly decided during our last status conference call, it seems unnecessary for the Class to respond to the motion.” The Class’s formal response to the motion would have been due on December 27, 2005. However, on December 21, 2005, in a nine-page decision, the Judge denied the Agency’s motion in its entirety. Apparently, the Administrative Judge agreed that it was unnecessary for the class to respond to the Agency’s motion. The Judge stated that the Agency’s motion, at least in part, was “merely a rehashing” of already-rejected arguments made by the Agency to the EEOC. As such, the Class definition remains unchanged, and the Agency failed in its bid to halt the Class from engaging in discovery.

We will periodically update this webpage to keep the Class informed regarding the case.

EEOC Order Certifying Class

EEOC November 2005 Status Conference Order

EEOC Scheduling Order

EEOC Order, December 21, 2005

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