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COURT DECISIONS
Bias case rulings may have wide impact

Globe Staff Photo/Pat Greenhouse Stonehill College mathematics professor Soo Tang Tan with his wife, Pat (left), and attorney Nancy Shilepsky. He was a lead plaintiff in a bias case.

Even though his lawsuit against his employer has not been resolved, Soo Tang Tan believes it will have a profound impact on employees -- and employers -- throughout the state.

Tan, 66, a tenured mathematics professor at Stonehill College in Easton, was a lead plaintiff in a bias case that was among four heard by the state's Supreme Judicial Court. This month, after reviewing each case, the high court ruled on two key issues: whether the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination should be allowed to award emotional distress damages and whether employers should be permitted to seek redress before a jury after receiving an adverse ruling from the MCAD.

The justice's findings stem from an MCAD ruling against Stonehill College that, in 2001, awarded Tan $150,000 in emotional damages as well as back pay after finding that the college was paying him less than lower-ranking white professors. The agency also ordered the college to pay Tan full compensation for all future work.

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Unhappy with the agency's ruling, the college sought redress before a jury and a judge. The Supreme Judicial Court decided to hear Tan's case and three others after receiving a number of questions from lower court judges who were not sure how the cases should be adjudicated. At the same time, some legal specialists maintained that the MCAD should not award emotional distress damages.

In a friend-of-the-court brief brought on behalf of Stonehill College, for example, a legal advocate argued that only a judge or jury should be allowed to award such damages.

''The advocate argued that it is one thing to give back pay, but it is another to give damages,'' recalled Boston lawyer Nancy Shilepsky, who represents Tan. Shilepsky, a partner at Perkins Smith & Cohen LLP, argued that it was impossible to remedy discrimination without also recognizing that the damage done to victims of bias is far more significant than a lost wage.

The high court agreed and upheld the right of the MCAD to award emotional distress damages. The court also ruled employers could no longer seek redress before a jury after receiving an adverse MCAD ruling. In its May 6 decision, the court said the practice was undermining the MCAD's authority since no matter what the agency ruled, a company could decide to take its case before a jury rather than adhere to the agency's decision.

For Tan, the court's action was a victory. ''I'm proud to have played a small role in getting the SJC to change the law,'' he said.

Even so, Tan has another legal hurdle before his own lawsuit is resolved. The high court sent his case to a Superior Court judge who will review the MCAD's legal paperwork to make sure it handled the Tan case properly. Then, the judge will decide whether to uphold the MCAD's ruling in favor of Tan.

Tan's lawsuit alleges that he was in his 18th year at Stonehill College when he learned that he was being paid less than lower-ranking white professors at the institution. He filed a complaint with the MCAD alleging racial bias.

Robert Dushman, an attorney representing Stonehill College, said there was no evidence that the institution had discriminated against Tan on the basis of race or ethnicity.

''Stonehill feels that it consistently treated Professor Tan fairly, and regrets that he feels otherwise,'' said Dushman, of Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels in Boston. After Tan filed his complaint, Shilepsky sought an order from the MCAD requiring that Stonehill turn over all of its employment and salary records going back 20 years. She said the documents revealed that Tan earned less than assistant professors, even though he was one of the highest ranked professors at the college.

In arguing Tan's case, Shilepsky maintained that the college discounted her client's teaching ability, his scholarly publications, his academic training, and his years of experience. Tan, the only nonwhite professor in the mathematics department, was also the highest ranked, she said.

EMPLOYMENT
Railroads expected to increase hiring

Want a job? Join a railroad.

Freight railroads are expected to hire more than 80,000 new workers over the next six years, reports the Association of American Railroads.

Edward R. Hamberger, president and chief executive of the association, said the industry is looking for self-starters. One reason: Demand for workers is expected to increase as older railroad workers retire. Also, freight service is expected to increase 67 percent by 2020 because of stepped up commercial activity here and abroad.

The association said openings are highest in cities like Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Memphis, St. Louis, and Atlanta. More rural areas are also hiring. These include Alliance, Neb.; Clovis, N.M.; Havre, Mont.; Gillette, Wyo.; Galesburg, Ill.;and Springfield, Mo.

Railroads are also offering competitive wages. These range from an average annual salary of more than $48,000 for workers who maintain locomotives and freight cars to $110,000 for an experienced locomotive engineer. The average salary for locomotive engineers is $75,162. Conductors, who are in high demand, earn an average of $67,128, the association said. The average benefit package for all of these jobs is $22,896.

According to the Railroad Retirement Board, more than 80,000 new workers will enter the industry in the next six years. By 2020, the number of new workers in the industry is expected to reach 140,000. As of the last quarter of 2003, the industry employed 221,000 people.

The retirement board attributed the industry's future growth to railroad reform legislation passed in 2002 that lowered the age that workers could retire to 60, with a minimum of 30 years on the job. Previously, the worker had to be at least 62 to receive full benefits. In all, close to 40 percent of the country's railroad employees will be eligible for retirement within the next decade.

Most railroad jobs require significant technical expertise and that means training. According to the association, training programs are traditionally conducted in-house, but some railroads have developed relationships with local community colleges to develop a curriculum that will prepare students for work on a railroad.

More information about available jobs in the railroad industry is available at the association's website at www.aar.org/Our_Members/our_members.asp.

SINGLE MOTHERS
Incomes increased during boom years

Single mothers garnered wage hikes during the economic boom.

The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., reports that the incomes of single mothers increased 2.6 percent each year between 1994 and 2000. Their annual salaries rose to $16,300, up from $14,000. By 2001, however, the situation had changed. As the labor market weakened and the economy entered a recession, the annual number of work hours of single mothers fell 2.1 percent, the organization said. ''The safety net kicked in a bit and unemployment compensation provided some cash to job losers, but not enough to reverse the loss in earnings,'' EPI said.

--DIANE E. LEWIS

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