St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1955-11-11


commissions work"
There had been some dis
Minneapolis aldermen over the
by the commission in budget hear
ings before the city council ways
and means committee.
The commission reported that
fear in the minds of employers,
that the hiring of a worker from n
racial, religious or nationality diff
fering with that of the present
working force would cause friction
has been found to be the chief rea-
son for job discrimination.
The report states, that THE
Commission recognizes that no
step in the progress toward full
equality Of employment opportun-
ity is the result of it's own work
alone, or of the work of any other
single agency or influence. Pro-
gress made is the cumulative re-
suit of the work of many organi-
vations and individuals over a
long period of time"
Through processing cases and
carrying on its educational pro-
gram, the Commission said 1t had
focused the attention of those who
make employment policy on the
problems of discrimination and on
the need to correct them.
The report also said that, AT
tempts are sometimes made TO re-
late the number of complaints
handled to the effectiveness Of the
Commissions work. Actually, no
such relationship exists. Com
plants indicate violations Of the
law, whereas the Commissions job
Is to secure compliance with the
law. Therefore, II the Commits
sion's work were fully effective,
complaints would be reduced to
zero"
The commission said II knew
from experience that only a small
proportion of the total number OF
instances In which workers feel
they have encountered discrimina-
ton are actually presented to the
Commission as omplain s.
Therefore" II said, "the number
of complaints cannot properly be
used to measure either the ex.
tent of discrimination or the sue
cess of the Commission in over
coming H."
On the subject of court actions
and penalties, the report states,
The law provides that the Com
mission may certify to the NUM-
cipa Court for prosecution any
case In which discrimination can
be proved and the Commission is
fully prepared to carry out its
responsibilities for enforcement OF
the law.
However, the Commission claim
ed, during the eight years of its
operating experience, it found no
case where discrimination could be
proved and in which 1t was I'M
able 70 secure compliance with the
Ordinance through Cancellation.
On four different occasions, in
the eight years since II was form
ed the Commission has had infor-
NAL discussions with the City At
torney 10 determine whether the
evidence available TO IL would war
rant prosecution in Municipal
Court. In no instance IL reports,
was the evidence sufficient to war
rant prosecution and the com
plants under consideration were
tabled pending further evidence.
This experience in Minneapolis
has been parallel TO that in other
cities and states. Out Of 1000
cases handled by operating state
and city commissions since the
first such commission was estab-
lished in 1e45, only four cases have
gone to court and only about 10
or IL have gone to public hear
ings."
The report concludes, This is
not because the commissions have
avoided public hearings or court
action as a matter Of policy. II is
simply because, in any case in
which discrimination can be
proved, the Commissions power
Of persuasion Is such that COM
pliance with the law can almost