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Local News in Brief : Hispanic Group Sues Customs Service

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Launching what it called a major offensive on discrimination against federal employees, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has filed suit against the U.S. Customs Service, charging that the agency has lagged in the training and promotion of Latinos.

“Today, in 1989, Hispanics are worse off than they were in 1980,” Antonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of MALDEF, said during a press conference at the organization’s Los Angeles headquarters. “What we intend to prove in this litigation is that there has been a regression in the promotion and hiring of Hispanics.”

MALDEF officials, who filed the national class lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, said they are bringing the case on behalf of more than 1,700 past and present Latino Customs Service employees who they say have been relegated to low-level jobs and consistently denied access to high-level positions.

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Although Latinos make up more than 12.6% of the Customs Service work force nationwide, they represent 25% of the employees at the agency’s lowest level and 4.2% of the department’s second-highest level of management, according to MALDEF.

A Customs Service spokesman refused to comment on the case.

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