NEVADA EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES. May 31, 2005

Transcription

1 KENNY C. GUINN Governor STATE OF NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING AND REHABILITATION EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSION 1515 E. Tropicana Avenue, Suite 590 Las Vegas, Nevada Telephone (702) * Fax (702) COMMISSIONERS ANITA LARUY, CHAIR DENNIS SHIPLEY LEE PLOTKIN AILEEN MARTIN NADIA JURANI NEVADA EQUAL RIGHTS COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The Nevada Equal Rights Commissioners Meeting was called to order at approximately 5:30 p.m., on, at the Grant Sawyer Building, located at 555 E. Washington Ave., Conference Room 1100, Las Vegas, Nevada. ROLL CALL Present were Anita Laruy, Chairperson; Lee Plotkin; Dennis Shipley; Aileen Martin; and Nadia Jurani. Also present were Susan Gray, Administrator, Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC); Terry Johnson, Deputy Director, Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation (DETR); Lynda Parven, Deputy Administrator, Employment Security Division (ESD); Michael Hedrick, Compliance Investigator II, NERC; David Newton, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), Attorney General s Office; Monica Hedrick, Public; Alice Shelton, Public; and Norma Delaney, Administrative Aid III, NERC. Anita Laruy, Chair, called the meeting to order, verified that proper posting of the meeting was completed, and asked for a motion to approve the minutes of January 26, Dennis Shipley, Commissioner, made the motion; Nadia Jurani, Commissioner, seconded the motion. Ms. Laruy stated that the motion is carried. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Laruy moved to the first agenda item, the introduction of the new NERC Administrator, Susan Gray. Ms. Laruy welcomed Ms. Gray to NERC and advised the other Commissioners that they may know Ms. Gray as the former Deputy Attorney General (DAG) who was assigned to the Commission. Ms. Laruy asked Ms. Gray to tell the members about herself and how she is doing.

2 Page 2 Ms. Gray advised that she was the DAG for the Commission for the last three years and that she is familiar with the other Commissioners. Ms. Gray added that she has been in her new position as Administrator for approximately two months and is still in the learning process; advised that there will be some changes forthcoming, but for the most part NERC will continue on with the strides the former Administrator, Lynda Parven, had made regarding timeliness and the processing of cases. Ms. Gray added that one item in particular that has been discussed at prior meetings is AB 189, housing, and that NERC will be refocusing on issues of public accommodation. Ms. Laruy asked if there were any questions of Ms. Gray; being none, she moved to the next agenda item and asked Ms. Gray for the Administrator s report. Ms. Gray referred to Tab B of the Commissioners Packet and stated that the report is completed through the end of April 2005, and stated she has updated statistics to provide: as of April 30, 2005 as of May 27, 2005 pending inquiries charges perfected this month closures this month pending inventory open 2003 cases open 2004 cases open 2005 cases types of cases Title VII ADEA ADA Other Average processing time - l29 days Ms. Gray added that the statistics reflect that NERC continues to be consistent. Ms. Gray stated that she wanted to give the Commissioners an update regarding the intake staff. She advised that the Las Vegas office has Maurice Davis, who conducts intake interviews on a fulltime basis; and Harold Chambers who conducts intake interviews one day a week, the day Mr.

3 Davis is not scheduled to work (as of the typing of the minutes, this has been increased to two days a week), and Mr. Chambers is also assigned to on-going investigation. She added that the Reno office has Dennis Maginot conducting intake interviews on a part-time basis, and he is also assigned to on-going investigation. Page 3 Ms. Gray advised that there are two full-time mediators, Christine Bundren and Michael Baltz, who conduct the mediations from the Las Vegas office for all of Nevada. She added that the other investigators are focused on investigation (Las Vegas has four full-time investigators and the Reno office has two). Ms. Gray added that the offices are still focused on the scheduling of the intakes and mediation to ensure they are being processed in a timely manner. Dennis Shipley, Commissioner, stated that at the last meeting the turn around time on a complaint was 157 days, and she, Ms. Gray, just reported that it was down to 129 days and asked Ms. Gray if she knows what the reason is for the decline. Ms. Gray responded that the closing of the older cases is what causes the average age to be reduced. She explained that when the 2003 cases are closed, which are over 600 days old, once they are taken out of the system, the days are drastically reduced. She added that once the remaining 2003 cases are closed, this time frame should be reduced further. Ms. Gray added that NERC s average age is great in comparison to EEOC who are averaging 180 days. Ms. Gray concluded with case statistics and asked if there were any questions. Being none, she moved on to her report regarding legislative update. Ms. Gray stated that SB 8 is the bill that would have allowed the Commissioners to increase the fine and create a fine fund this bill did not pass very early on in the session. In regards to AB 189, Ms. Gray advised that this bill has finally been presented and that there is a hearing on June 1, 2005 in Senate Government Affairs; she stated that there has been substantial revisions and has been revised three times. She added that in the past two weeks, the housing advocates came forward at the last minute with their concerns about NERC entering into a contract with HUD, with their main concerns being that if NERC did enter into a contract with HUD, NERC would then become responsible for litigating cases against Respondents. MS. Gray stated that in contacting HUD, they were asked to respond to these issues and as of the date of the meeting,, she has not received a response. Ms. Gray concluded that based on the time left in the session, a compromise was reached to essentially prohibit NERC from entering into such a contract until such a contract has been approved by the legislature. Ms. Gray advised that this language is included in the copy of the bill inside their packet.

4 Ms. Laruy commented that it means it is status quo which means nothing is happening, to which Ms. Gray confirmed. Page 4 Ms. Gray responded that there are some items that are still viable and stated that NERC would be raising their housing goal the same as the federal government which means that if someone were to file a complaint with NERC, they would receive the same treatment as if they filed with HUD, that the state law would be equivalent to the federal law. Ms. Gray added that NERC will maintain the same housekeeping issues, and the most important aspect is that NERC has extended their complaint filing time from 180 days to 300 days which will allow NERC to accept charges up to 300 days and accept more complaints/charges and be paid by EEOC for those charges. She added that currently if a complaint is over 180 days, NERC forwards the charge(s) to EEOC and NERC does not have the opportunity to investigate; now, NERC has the opportunity to extend their jurisdiction up to 300 days which will also give NERC the opportunity to reach contract. Nadia Jurani, Commissioner, asked Ms. Gray when this change will take effect, as there are many people who miss the 180-day time frame. Ms. Gray responded that this change will go into effect on October 1, 2005, and that part of the bill will go into effect upon signing. Ms. Laruy commented that if she understands correctly, NERC will not be investigating housing complaints, to which Ms. Gray responded that NERC will not be entering into a contract with HUD to do housing complaints. Ms. Gray added that NERC is currently budgeted for 22-1/2 positions and that if NERC were budgeted and had the ability to take housing complaints, this would be discussed and looked at in more detail. Ms. Gray stated she would provide the Commissioners more information when NERC is ready and after this bill is presented on June 1, She stated that it is her hope that with all the substantial changes, the bill will pass through the Senate Committee with relative ease. Mr. Shipley stated that at the meeting in January 2005, Aileen Martin, Commissioner, asked how many claimants/grievants go directly to EEOC as opposed to filing with NERC first; that this information was not available at the January 2005 meeting but that this information would be provided. He asked Ms. Gray if she has this information.

5 Ms. Gray responded that Beatrice Zablocki, EEOC State/Local Coordinator, brought this to her attention in a recent meeting she had with Terry Johnson, DETR Deputy Director, and Olophius Perry, Director, EEOC Los Angeles Office, and that Ms. Zablocki stated she had provided this information to NERC. Ms. Gray was unclear as to why the information was not provided to the Commissioners, but stated she will get the information as requested and forward to them. Page 5 Aileen Martin, Commissioner, stated that for the record, she had requested this information in January 2005 and to date she has not received any information. Ms. Gray stated she would mail the information to the Commissioners instead of waiting until the next meeting to provide the information. Ms. Gray concluded that SB 8 and AB 189 were the only two bills that NERC had and that there may be other bills that may eventually affect NERC (salaries), there is nothing specifically substantive Ms. Laruy asked the Commissioners if there were any questions for Ms. Gray regarding her reports. Being none, Ms. Laruy moved to the next agenda item and asked Ms. Gray to introduce the new Deputy Attorney General. Ms. Gray introduced David Newton and stated that he has recently been assigned to NERC and has the responsibilities/clients that she had when she was the DAG assigned to NERC, in addition to a few extra clients. She stated that Mr. Newton came from the Department of Taxation and represented that agency for the past year and prior to that he was in private practice, and that he is a graduate of UNLV s Boyd School of Law. Ms. Laruy asked Mr. Newton to tell the Commissioners about himself. David Newton, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), advised that before he came to the State of Nevada, he did medical malpractice defense and chose defense work for about three years; he has been married for 17 years; has 2 kids, ages 10 and 5; stated his son will tell you that if he is not at work that he can probably be found on the golf course; his wife is an obstetrician; and that he was born and raised in Las Vegas, as was his mother. Ms. Laruy commented that he is a real native and welcomed him to the Commission. Ms. Gray stated that Jim Smith is still the DAG in Reno is still available for help or to answer any questions, and that she believes Mr. Newton will work out well.

6 Ms. Laruy asked the Commissioners if they had any questions for Mr. Newton and being none, she moved to the next agenda item, asked if there were any public comments. Being none, Ms. Laruy advised that Norma Delaney, Administrative Aid III, NERC, will contact the Commissioners regarding date/time/location for next meeting. Page 6 Ms. Laruy stated that before she asks for a motion for adjournment, she asked Lynda Parven, former NERC Administrator, now Deputy Administrator ESD, to come forward. Ms. Laruy presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation for service to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission and the citizens of Nevada as Administrator from the NERC staff and the Commissioners. Ms. Parven accepted the Certificate and thanked the Commissioners and NERC staff. Ms. Laruy stated that there is also a Certificate of Appreciation for Billie Bailey, but that unfortunately she could not attend the meeting. Ms. Laruy stated that Ms. Bailey s reads Certificate of Appreciation for service to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission and the citizens of Nevada as Acting Administrator from the NERC staff and the Commissioners. Ms. Laruy added that she wishes Ms. Bailey a quick recovery. Ms. Laruy asked for a motion for adjournment; Ms. Jurani made the motion and Dennis Shipley seconded. Meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Norma Delaney Administrative Aid III NV Equal Rights Commission

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