Hospital settles racial bias class action

Houston Chronicle

Section C **

Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1996

BUSINESS Finance & Markets

By L.M. SIXEL

Houston Chronicle

Houston Northwest Medical Center has agreed to settle a class action race discrimination lawsuit for $950,000, according to a statement issued by the hospital and lawyers representing the employees.

As many as 3,000 job applicants, employees and former employees could share in the award, said Kate Birenbaum, who represents the workers.

Both sides expect U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botlev to approve the preliminary settlement order soon. Class members - applicants, employees and ex-employees of the hospital - will meet in January to decide whether to approve it.

In its settlement, Houston Northwest Medical Center denied it engaged in any discriminatory conduct in its employment practices, according to a written statement.  The hospital agreed to the settlement to avoid a lengthy trial, said Randall Speck, the Washington, D.C., lawyer who represents the hospital.

The hospital did not hire many blacks and Hispanics for administrative or professional jobs, Birenbaum said.  It also did not promote or transfer many of the blacks and Hispanics it had on staff beyond their jobs as lower-level technicians.

Race discrimination appeared to be an endemic practice throughout the hospital, she said. One Hispanic woman who applied for a job as either an administrative clerk or emergency room clerk in 1990 was told by the Caucasian who took the application that the hospital would consider her only for a janitorial position or kitchen clerk, Birenbaum said.  That wasn't unusual treatment for Hispanic and black applicants, she said.

And a former hospital official testified during a hearing that the hospital did not market to Hispanic physicians, Birenbaum said.

Fourteen workers filed individual discrimination lawsuits starting in 1994 and were certified as a class in 1995.

The hospital, which is located in the northwest part of Houston, is licensed for 498 beds but staffed for 300 to 350.  It has between 1,500 and 1,600 employees.

OrNda, a Nashville-based company, owns the hospital.  Last month, Santa Barbara, California based Tenet Healthcare Corp. acquired OrNda, pending shareholder approval.