Federal Jury Issues Race Discrimination Verdict for $677,000 Against Amtrak

On March 3, 2009, a federal jury in Oakland issued a verdict against Amtrak for $677,000 for Race Discrimination toward John Earl Campbell, an African-American Conductor.

The nine person jury unanimously found that race was “the motivating factor” in Amtrak’s refusal to promote Mr. Campbell and its decision to fire him.

Mr. Campbell proved that he was a victim of Joe Deely, Amtrak’s General Manager, whose reign of bigotry began in 1993 and persists up until today. Numerous witnesses testified about the frequent use of racial slurs by Deely and other top Amtrak Managers at the Oakland Yard. Mr. Campbell worked as a Conductor in Oakland and San Francisco between 1998 and 2004. His applications for Engineer Training were repeatedly rejected by Amtrak during that time.

Mr. Campbell also alleged that Amtrak discriminated against him and other African- American employees in training opportunities, and singled out anyone who complained about the unfair treatment with harsh disciplinary actions. Mr. Campbell alleged that when he complained about race discrimination, Amtrak failed to investigate his complaints and retaliated against him for making such complaints.

In 2004, another federal jury awarded $500,000 to Abner Morgan, Jr., an African- American Electrician who suffered race discrimination, racial harassment and retaliation by Amtrak’s Oakland Yard Managers. In the Morgan trial, a former Amtrak Manager testified that Amtrak’s Managers regularly enjoyed watching one of the top Managers perform the “Shuffle Butt Ni—er” dance in the office at night. (See Morgan v. Amtrak, 232 F.3d 1008 (9th Cir. 2000), 536 U.S. 101. 112 S.Ct. 1516 (2002).)

In 1997, Conductor Mary Gotthardt was awarded more than $1,000,000 against Amtrak by a federal judge after a jury found that Amtrak’s Managers under Joe Deely’s supervision created a sexually hostile work environment for Ms. Gotthardt. (Gotthardt v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 191 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir. 1999).)

Mr. Campbell is represented by Oakland Attorneys Pamela Y. Price and Daniel Martinez de la Vega of Price And Associates and Kendra Fox-Davis of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Amtrak is represented by Attorneys Patrick Mullin and Dylan Carp of Jackson Lewis.