U.S. appellate court upholds ruling for Little Rock in pay-bias case

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a federal court's ruling that favored the city of Little Rock in a case in which the city's diversity manager sued on claims of racial discrimination in pay.

In March 2016, an all-white jury of four men and eight women declared that Little Rock did not base its 2010 decision to not increase the pay of Ericka Benedicto on the fact that she is black.

Benedicto, the city's diversity manager, had filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was discriminated against in 2010 when the pay of a white manager in her same salary grade and department was raised to that of another white manager, leaving her as the only person in the department and salary grade who was making less.

City Manager Bruce Moore, who is also black and who hired Benedicto and made the decision on her salary, testified that race is never a factor in the city's hiring, firing, promotion or compensation decisions.

The city could have settled outside of court for the $25,000 in back pay Benedicto sought, but Moore testified that fighting the lawsuit wasn't about the money. Rather, it was about the city's integrity and reputation, he said.

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A̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶B̶e̶n̶e̶d̶i̶c̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶y̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶r̶e̶p̶a̶n̶c̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶M̶o̶o̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶r̶a̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶a̶y̶.̶ ̶

Benedicto's pay was raised in 2013 in response to an equity study after a communications manager was hired with less experience but higher pay.*

Benedicto, who represented herself in court, asked the federal court that heard her case to grant her a new trial, partly because the jury pool didn't provide an opportunity for an impartial trial, she said.

Judge Brian Miller denied the request in May 2016, and Benedicto then appealed the jury's verdict to the 8th Circuit.

The appeals court ruled against Benedicto last week and affirmed the lower court's ruling in an order filed Tuesday.

"Our review of the record shows no basis to conclude 'that the jury's verdict contravenes the great weight of the evidence to such an extent that allowing the verdict to stand will result in a miscarriage of justice,'" the ruling said. "We affirm the judgment of the District Court."

Metro on 04/13/2017

*CORRECTION: The salary of Little Rock Diversity Manager Ericka Benedicto was raised in 2013 in response to an equity study after a communications manager was hired with less experience but higher pay. Her pay increase and that equity study were separate from her 2014 lawsuit about an earlier equity study, after which her pay was not raised. A previous version of this article wasn’t clear about why her salary was raised.

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