His claims against the campus police department had merit, the EEOC ruled, but he did not file suit.
In April 2003, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that Bill Nowinsky and Peggy Thomas’ claims that Christopher Newport University’s campus police department maintained a racially hostile climate had merit.
In February, the U.S. Justice Department granted Nowinsky the right to sue CNU, based on information the EEOC forwarded it. Nowinsky was prepared to take the next step, until he found out how much it would cost.
After consulting with several lawyers, “the lowest price we got was $50,000,” Nowinsky said. “It was a cost factor that we could not meet without starving ourselves.”
The Justice Department could have filed suit on Nowinsky’s behalf but chose not to. That left Nowinsky responsible for paying the costs of the lawsuit, which had to be filed within 90 days after he got the department’s February letter.
For Nowinsky — who resigned in 2002 as CNU’s chief head security officer after seven years — the inability to sue reflects half-hearted efforts by the federal government to ensure equality in the workplace. Nowinsky said he left the police department because two police officers used racial slurs in referring to a black female police officer and racially profiled black students on campus.
Thomas, a former CNU police officer, also filed a complaint with the EEOC. She resigned in February 2003, saying she’d been called a derogatory name by a fellow officer who later threatened to kill her. Thomas could not be reached for comment.
Nowinsky had sought unemployment benefits from the state. But in July, the Virginia Employment Commission upheld on appeal a commission examiner’s decision that the state did not owe him unemployment. The commission determined that Nowinsky’s situation was not so dire that he had no other choice than to quit. Nowinsky, who has not worked since leaving the campus police, said he would not appeal again.
The EEOC ruling last year asked CNU to end discriminatory practices, rehire Nowinsky and Thomas, give them back pay and money for damages and discipline the two police officers who made racial slurs. The EEOC also noted that treatment of the two former police department employees violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Despite the ruling and a request by the then-chairman of the Newport News branch of the NAACP to act, CNU President Paul Trible said at the time the findings weren’t valid. Trible said that, unlike CNU, the EEOC didn’t conduct a thorough investigation. The CNU investigation found no misconduct or signs of discrimination, Trible said.
Still, the campus police department has changed since Nowinsky and Thomas filed their complaints. According to Chief of Police Jeffrey Brown, the department has incorporated sensitivity training for all employees into its operations.
The training was designed to “to enable the University Police to be even more responsive to the needs of our community,” Brown wrote via e-mail. “The training has been well received and has strengthened the agency.” *
