NAACP Seeks Reaction to Bias Charge
In a letter sent to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors this week, the county chapter of the NAACP has asked the board for a response to a county employee’s complaints of racial discrimination.
The letter, signed by NAACP President John R. Hatcher III, alleges that Myra Kelley, a clerk who has worked for the county for 16 years, has been the victim of “an institutional form of racism that has perpetuated itself and no action has taken place to date” in the county.
Kelley, who is black, won a ruling last month from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which found that the county retaliated against her because she filed a complaint with the EEOC.
The commission report found that Kelley “was disciplined, denied promotion and returned to her previous position in retaliation for participation in protected activities.”
In her complaint, filed in 1985, Kelley said she was made to take written and physical examinations that no other county employees were required to take, and that she was denied a promotion even though she ranked first on a county eligibility test.
Kelley, 45, of Oxnard, said she is awaiting a conciliation meeting with county and EEOC representatives to discuss the case. She said she is seeking reimbursement of about $15,000 in legal fees, a promotion to the position of personnel analyst and back pay.
County Counsel James L. McBride said it is not county policy to comment on personnel matters.
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