Judge Bars Race Bias at Circuit City

A federal judge in Richmond, Va., has issued a broad order against race discrimination at Circuit City Stores Inc. installing a court-approved director of diversity management and giving the court oversight of the company’s employment practices for at least five years. The diversity official must come from outside the company and will oversee its hiring, training and promotion practices. The unusual injunction by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer follows a verdict by a Richmond jury in December that found a pattern of intentional race discrimination at the company’s headquarters and awarded two black employees nearly $300,000 in damages. At the time of that decision, plaintiffs’ lawyers requested the injunction. Although the case was not a class action, it opened the way for any of the 1,800 black workers at the Richmond headquarters of Circuit City who believe they were discriminated against to sue the company. The company said it would have no comment on the injunction but that it plans to appeal it and the December verdict.