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Human relations agency accused of racial bias
Activist Eugene Danaher says the state commission discriminates against whites and Hispanics.
By LUCY MORGAN
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 9, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- Eugene Danaher, a civic activist who has successfully pursued complaints against ethical lapses of public officials and sexual harassment of women in the workplace, has a new complaint.
He says the Florida Commission on Human Relations refuses to protect white and Hispanic citizens.
In a complaint filed with the commission, which is supposed to protect Floridians against racial discrimination, Danaher says the agency is overloaded with black employees who deliberately discriminate against others.
Danaher says the agency has 69 black, six Hispanic and 18 white employees in a state where whites and Hispanics outnumber blacks.
His complaint came after the commission declined to act on sexual harassment complaints Danaher filed on behalf of several women who have sought his help in dealing with a black former Florida Department of Revenue official who now works for Leon County.
"This commission is a joke," Danaher said Thursday after filing a written complaint. "We're spending state money on something that isn't working."
Virginia Newman, spokeswoman for the commission, disputed Danaher's figures and said the commission's newly appointed director, Derrick Daniel, has made it a priority to diversify the staff.
She said the agency's full-time employees now include 41 blacks, 16 whites and one Hispanic. There also are six part-time employees, all black.
Danaher is a retired General Motors executive who lives in Tallahassee. He has filed a number of successful complaints with the state Ethics Commission, including one against former House Speaker John Thrasher.
Earlier this year Danaher's work led officials at the state Department of Transportation to discharge Rudy Maloy, a former Leon County commissioner accused of sexually harassing women who worked for him in his state office and at his county office.
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