SAN FRANCISCO -- A state appeals court has ordered the city to pay about $1 million in legal fees to a white man who won a race-discrimination suit he filed after not getting a promotion at San Francisco International Airport.
Allen Harmon won his case in San Mateo County in 2004. A jury awarded him $30,300 in damages, concluding he was rejected for a supervisor's position in 1998 at least partially because of his race.
Harmon's lawyers say a minority candidate received the promotion instead because the city had quotas on race, and that Harmon had to wait 16 months for another promotion.
The city denied that it used racial bias in its hiring process and said a vast majority of promotions went to white men. They changed the policy Harmon challenged after the suit.
Copyright 2007 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Allen Harmon won his case in San Mateo County in 2004. A jury awarded him $30,300 in damages, concluding he was rejected for a supervisor's position in 1998 at least partially because of his race.
Harmon's lawyers say a minority candidate received the promotion instead because the city had quotas on race, and that Harmon had to wait 16 months for another promotion.
The city denied that it used racial bias in its hiring process and said a vast majority of promotions went to white men. They changed the policy Harmon challenged after the suit.
Copyright 2007 by KTVU.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.