Democrat and Chronicle: Document Display

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Democrat and Chronicle

Estimated printed = pages:=20 3=20

November 1,=20 2002
Section:=20 Business
Page:=20 16D, 12D

Kodak worker = files bias=20 suit
Ben=20 Rand
Staff=20
DC;Metro =

BY STAFF=20 WRITER

BEN RAND=20

An Eastman Kodak Co. employee is claiming in a federal = lawsuit that=20 white workers at the company are being singled out as "scapegoats" = in an=20 overzealous campaign to stamp out racism.=20

David M. Wieme, a 31-year Kodak employee, is alleging that = he was=20 unfairly demoted late last year because the company wanted to = toughen its=20 response to racial discrimination. Wieme is white and has filed a=20 reverse-discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court in = Rochester.=20

Kodak wouldn't comment on specifics. "We believe the = allegations in=20 the case are without merit," spokesman Gerard Meuchner said.=20

The allegations stem from a Feb. 14, 2001, incident = involving an=20 African-American subordinate in Kodak's plastics molding unit, = where Wieme=20 has worked his entire career.=20

According to the suit, Wieme was informed that day that = someone had=20 written the letters "KKK" on the back of the subordinate's = uniform.=20

Within minutes, the lawsuit states, Wieme had called = Kodak's human=20 resources department, which then launched an investigation. That, = he says,=20 is in line with Kodak's official policies on harassment.=20

Fast-forward two months. According to the suit, Wieme was = called to=20 a meeting at which he was told that the company would be placing a = memo in=20 his file, stripping him of supervisory duties and denying him a = pay raise.=20

The reasons cited, according to the suit: Wieme should have = called=20 corporate security instead of human resources and failed to show = enough=20 empathy toward the African-American worker. Those reasons, Wieme = says in=20 his suit, are inaccurate and a pretext for discriminating against = him.=20

The company's policies do not mention calling corporate = security,=20 he said in an interview.=20

Also, the company stated in its memo that he placed a memo = noting=20 the worker's poor attendance shortly after the incident. Wieme = said he was=20 following orders when he did that.=20

Wieme said corporate security eventually concluded that the = KKK=20 incident was part of a joke that the African-American employee = knew about=20 and encouraged.=20

Wieme in his suit links his demotion to Kodak's efforts to = show=20 "zero tolerance" toward racial discrimination. He says white = workers=20 either involved with or investigating the KKK incident were = disciplined=20 more harshly than African-Americans who were also involved.=20

He said in the suit that the disparate treatment goes = beyond the=20 KKK incident. For instance, he said that in May 2001 he reported = to=20 security that someone had put a chemical on the door handle of his = car and=20 scratched the car with keys.=20

Wieme was promised an investigation. However, the suit = states,=20 unlike the response to the KKK incident, "no one ever called Mr. = Wieme."=20

Along with the company, Wieme names as defendants top = corporate=20 executives, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel = A. Carp.=20

The lawsuit says Carp received regular briefings on the = "KKK"=20 incident and at one point asked the Federal Bureau of = Investigation to get=20 involved in the probe. He apparently feared the incident might = have been a=20 hate crime, said Nelson Thomas, Wieme's lawyer.=20

Claims such as Wieme's are becoming more common, said = Thomas, whose=20 firm specializes in employment law. More white Kodak employees = than=20 minority employees are calling the firm with complaints about=20 discrimination these days, Thomas said.=20

In an interview, Wieme said he decided to sue after Kodak = declined=20 to restore him to his supervisory role.=20

He says he's suffered stress-related illnesses and lost his = marriage because of the circumstances surrounding the case. He = still works=20 in plastics molding in a nonsupervisory role.=20

"I was just so utterly disappointed in the company, that = they=20 wouldn't even look to going to bat for me," Wieme said.=20

The challenge of diversity programs is to make sure = everyone is=20 treated fairly, an expert in human resources says. Sometimes the = pendulum=20 goes too far, but "sometimes the pendulum doesn't swing far = enough," said=20 Mary-Frances Winters, president of The Winters Group.=20

"Are people going to make mistakes? Yes," Winters said. "I = think,=20 though, from Kodak's perspective, they are trying to do the right = thing."=20

E-mail address: brand@=20

DemocratandChronicle.com=20

Copyright (c) Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. All rights = reserved.=20 Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank,=20 inc.

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