OAKLAND — Oakland will pay a white former city attorney $295,000 to settle a lawsuit in which he alleged that he was not promoted because of his race and age.
Charles Vose, who worked for the city attorney’s office from 1990 to 2017, filed the lawsuit in August 2017, alleging that he was passed up numerous times for promotions and younger, less-experienced, non-Caucasian candidates were hired instead. Vose, who was 57 when he filed the suit, also said he was retaliated against after he complained about it.
“I was passed over for five or six promotions that I had applied for and I believe those were primarily based on race and age,” Vose said in a phone interview Friday. “A number of those promotions went to African-Americans or younger, not-as-qualified candidates; a couple were hired from outside of the office.”
City Attorney Barbara Parker denies the allegations, according to her request to the City Council to authorize the settlement. The council voted Tuesday to authorize the settlement with new council member Nikki Fortunato Bas abstaining.
Vose said he has retired from practicing law, and has since moved to South Florida with his husband.
“It became apparent that I was never going to get a promotion,” Vose said.
Vose said his last promotion was in 1998 to the position of Deputy City Attorney IV — a non-supervisory position. He started going after supervisor positions in 2012, to no avail.
“There were a number of employees in the office, the bulk of whom were African-American, who agreed that I was discriminated against; it was pretty widespread,” he said.
He said Parker started retaliated against him in 2012 by sending out emails throughout the office with information that was part of his personnel file.
Though the lawsuit didn’t specify how much Vose sought in damages, a legal expert determined that he lost around $300,000 in wages and retirement benefits since 2012. Before the settlement, Vose had indicated that he would also seek damages for emotional distress. Court records show that a jury trial was set to start in March.