Little Rock's diversity manager is not entitled to a new trial in her racial discrimination lawsuit against the city that a jury deemed unfounded earlier this year, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Within an hour and a half of the judge's decision, Diversity Manager Ericka Benedicto filed an appeal of the jury's verdict from the March trial with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
Benedicto, who is black, represented herself in the lawsuit that alleged race was a factor in City Manager Bruce Moore's decision to pay similarly experienced white managers more than her. Moore also is black.
A 12-person jury heard a two-day trial in federal court in Little Rock in March and issued a verdict in favor of the city.
Benedicto petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, for a new trial, partly because of the all-white jury pool from which she had to select a 12-person jury.
Judge Brian Miller, who is black, ruled Thursday that Benedicto's arguments weren't enough for him to grant a new trial in the case.
In her motion for a new trial, Benedicto argued that the jury did not represent a fair cross section of the community, that the verdict was against the weight of evidence and that Moore gave false testimony.
In denying the motion, Miller wrote that to challenge composition of a jury, Benedicto would have had to bring the challenge at the time of jury examination or within seven days of discovering that the jury was not sufficiently diverse. Benedicto didn't do that.
Even if she had, Miller said, he would have denied the challenge because Benedicto didn't show a systematic exclusion of any group.
"Benedicto contends that the jury venire 'was unfair and unreasonable' because it included no persons of color. Benedicto, however, has not submitted any evidence of the racial composition of other venires in the Eastern District of Arkansas. Therefore, even if she could establish the first two prongs, she has not established that 'persons of color' are systematically excluded from the jury-selection process in the Eastern District of Arkansas," Miller wrote.
He also said that the evidence presented at trial did not overwhelmingly support Benedicto's claim that she was denied a salary increase because she is black.
And her argument that Moore gave false testimony at the trial wasn't granted because Benedicto had the opportunity to cross-examine Moore and serve as a rebuttal witness of the testimony he provided, Miller said.
Soon after Miller's order, Benedicto filed her notice of appeal.
Her lawsuit centered on a 2010 equity review conducted by the Human Resources Department that studied whether there was an inequity created for Administrative Services Manager Susan Langley, who was making $54,983 when the city hired two managers in the same pay grade at higher salaries in 2009.
Those two managers were Benedicto, who made $58,000, and Public Relations Manager Meg Matthews, who made $62,500.
Langley and Matthews are white.
The Human Resources Department determined that all three candidates had similar professional experience and that an inequity had occurred for Langley, who had worked at the city since 2003. It was recommended that Langley's pay be raised to that of Matthews.
Moore approved the recommended salary increase for Langley and a recommendation from the assistant city manager to combine Langley's job as administrative services manager with the city clerk job. The additional duties also justified the pay increase, Moore said.
No increase was given to Benedicto at the time, though her salary was later raised to match the other two managers when she found out about the equity study in 2013 and discussed it with Moore.
Langley and Matthews graduated from college with bachelor's degrees in 1989 and entered the full-time workforce in 1992. Benedicto had dual bachelor's degrees and a master's degree, and entered the full-time workforce in 2002.
Pamela Wrather, who wrote the 2010 equity review memo, testified at the trial in March that the decade of work experience that Langley and Matthews had on Benedicto justified their pay.
"I don't care how Mrs. Benedicto slices it, she didn't match up in terms of experience," the city's attorney, Bill Mann, said during his closing argument to the jury.
Metro on 05/27/2016