Wednesday, March 14, 2001
The board's pursuit of the case will have a lasting effect, the director said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Three years ago the city's human relations commission took on a case against Corrections Corporation of America that it thought was a sure win.
A couple of appeals later and faced with the unlikely chance the U.S. Supreme Court would entertain another appeal, the board has called it quits.
Commissioners closed the case of Joseph Clark Jr. Tuesday, deciding a high court challenge wouldn't be worth the time and effort.
Clark agreed to go along with whatever the board decided, said William M. Carter, the agency's executive director.
Board members remain convinced that Clark, a guard at CCA's Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, was treated unfairly.
"Our heart is with him," said Brian Corbin, the board's chairman.
Clark approached the private prison in 1997 about getting help for a relapse of a cocaine problem. Instead of being placed in a program, he was fired. The city commission argued that the firing violated Clark's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The case started out well enough. A hearing officer found probable cause for discrimination. The commission ordered CCA to rehire Clark and provide back pay.
A Mahoning County magistrate reversed that ruling in 1999, so the board appealed. A common pleas court judge upheld the decision.
The board next approached the 7th District Court of Appeals. That court, too, upheld the county court ruling.
Finally, the board asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear the case. Justices rejected the request, saying the case did not pose a great public interest.
The board considered the last option, the U.S. Supreme Court. The type of case and the amount of time and effort needed -- compared with the slim chance the court would even hear the case -- both were problems, said the board's lawyer, John McNally IV, an assistant city law director.
That led commissioners to Tuesday's decision.
Despite the defeats, Carter said the original ruling in the board's favor and its pursuit of the case will have a lasting effect.
"Companies ... will be put on notice this commission will not take it lightly when you seek help and are terminated," he said.