Black Official Settles Bias Claim for $90,000

One of Los Angeles County’s highest-ranking black executives was awarded a $90,000 settlement Tuesday stemming from a discrimination complaint alleging he was victimized by racial discrimination and denied job benefits.

The Board of Claims granted the payment to Edgar H. Hayes, director of the Data Processing Department, who filed a federal lawsuit last January seeking $1 million in damages from the county.

In settling with the county, Hayes agreed to dismiss his federal lawsuit that had contended that he was denied the usual “perks” such as automobiles enjoyed by other department heads and that his salary at the time--$79,642--was less than some deputies made in his own agency.

Hayes declined to comment Tuesday, but his attorney, Laurence B. Labovitz, confirmed the $90,000 award and said Hayes will resign his county job next week to join Lockheed Datacom, a data processing company and subsidiary of Lockheed Corp.

“The parties have settled all of the outstanding issues between them, and Mr. Hayes looks forward to his new role in the private sector and extends his best wishes to all county personnel who have worked with him over the years,” Labovitz said in a prepared statement.

County Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon said that Hayes first approached county officials last month with news that he was resigning to join Lockheed Datacom as a senior vice president. At the time, Dixon said, Hayes was concerned that his joining the firm could jeopardize the firm’s ability to bid for county jobs.

Lockheed Datacom already has a county contract processing traffic tickets in Municipal Court, and the county code bars a firm from bidding for county contracts for 12 months if one of its principal officers also had an influential county job in that same field.

Dixon, however, said he and County Counsel De Witt Clinton will ask the board next week to waive that restriction so that the settlement with Hayes can be completed and the lawsuit dismissed.

In a letter to the board, both officials said, “The waiver will not provide Lockheed Datacom any advantage in seeking county contracts.” Dixon also told The Times that there are no county contract proposals that have been prepared under Hayes’ direction that would involve his new firm.

The 54-year-old Hayes, who now makes $88,004, is one of three black department heads in the county. His lawsuit, a rarity for someone as high as his level in county government, had the backing of the Black Employees Assn., which represents black county workers.

Hayes had charged county officials with undermining his authority and engaging in a “longstanding practice, custom and usage of limiting the opportunities of black employees in the county.”

Despite the settlement, Dixon insisted that the county would have ultimately won the case but that it may have proved more costly.

“I think that what it indicates is that from the county standpoint, it is something that is well put behind us and that neither side was willing to spend huge sums to litigate.”