Disneyland to Expand Minority Policy After ’69 Firing of Black

Sixteen years after Disneyland fired a black carpenter for what a court called “racially discriminatory and retaliatory purposes,” the amusement park agreed to settle the issue by expanding its affirmative action program.

Details on the settlement reached in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles were not available Friday. The document was sealed, and both Disneyland officials and Stuart Herman, the carpenter’s attorney, were under court order not to discuss it.

But Herman said that as a part of the settlement, Disneyland’s expanded affirmative action efforts would begin soon. He said the park’s efforts are expected to go beyond carpenters and would involve the recruitment of minorities in all trades at Disneyland. The new program will be monitored by the federal court, Herman added.

Last September, U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled that Wheeler L. Kelly--believed to be the only black carpenter ever hired by Disneyland, according to Herman--was fired in 1969 for “racially discriminatory and retaliatory purposes” and should get his old job back, as well as back pay and benefits.

In an interview last fall, Kelly said that during his three years at Disneyland he had been the only black among 400 craftsmen. During that time, Kelly said, he was frequently called “nigger,” “jigaboo” and “communist.” He added that supervisors ignored him when he complained about the slurs.

“A black person would have a better chance of being a federal judge or winning a gold medal in ice skating in the Olympics or being an astronaut than being a carpenter at Disneyland,” Kelly, now 50, said last fall.

Kelly, who sued the amusement park, had originally sought to get his old job back. But as a result of the settlement, he is now content to remain in business for himself as a Santa Ana contractor, Herman said.

Kelly had sought more than $100,000 in monetary damages, but Herman said Friday that he was barred by the court order from describing the financial settlement that had been reached. However, he said: “Mr. Kelly is satisfied with the full settlement.”

Disneyland officials declined comment on the agreement, but spokesman Al Flores pointed out that the park had “made great strides” in the last decade in its affirmative action program.

In accord with company policy, Flores said he could not provide any figures concerning minority hiring at Disneyland.

But he added: “Currently, we meet the federal government affirmative action guidelines for having an appropriate number of minorities with respect to the number of minorities in the area.”