2 Former Employees Win Against WSSC

A federal jury in Maryland has decided that the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission discriminated against two African American employees, awarding a total of $575,000 in compensatory damages to the two men.

Donald Temple, an attorney for the two men, said the jury in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt last week awarded $300,000 to Benjamin Porter, 55, of Prince George's County, and $275,000 to Andre Proctor, 50, of St. Mary's County.

"Justice has been done," Porter said. "It's been a hard road. The truth came out." Porter retired last year from the WSSC after 28 years with the agency.

Proctor, who retired from the WSSC in 2005 after more than 29 years, said: "I am very happy with the verdict. I feel redeemed now. Maybe other blacks and minorities won't be afraid of speaking out now if they are being treated unfairly."

Jim Neustadt, a WSSC spokesman, said, "We are considering the verdict."

The agency provides water and sewer services to Prince George's and Montgomery. Porter and Proctor both worked as electrical mechanical technicians.

According to Temple, six openings for the position of lead electrical mechanical technician occurred in 2000 at different WSSC plants. Porter and Proctor -- both with more than 20 years of experience with the agency -- were passed over for each promotion.

A white man was promoted in each instance, Temple said.

Evidence presented at the trial showed that Proctor and Porter had both received excellent performance evaluations, Temple said. Both men had worked as "acting" lead electrical mechanical technicians, and Porter had a "superior" rating and Proctor a "commendable" rating during that time, Temple said.

He said the trial focused on two promotions -- one in which Porter was passed over and one in which Proctor was passed over. Evidence revealed that WSSC officials had used selection criteria for promotions selectively and unfairly, Temple said.

For example, white male candidates had received credit for seniority but Proctor and Porter had not, Temple said. In Porter's case, he said, an employee who had only two years of experience as a technician was chosen for the promotion over Porter.

"No matter how well they did, the promotion criteria was skewed," Temple said.