Mayor Denies Bias in Parks Staffing

New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Parks Commissioner Henry Stern denied that staffing and job promotion at the Parks Department is racially biased.

A group of 20 black and Latino parks employees has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying the department overlooked them for promotions, gave raises to less-qualified whites and retaliated against them when they spoke out.

An EEOC investigation said that lines of authority at the department were “almost completely segregated by race and color” and that whites were promoted at significantly higher rates than others.