Jury Verdict Upheld In Jordan Race Bias Case
by Gwen Filosa - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld the verdict that Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan violated civil rights law by firing dozens of white employees after taking office, marking the final automatic appeal of a jury award that tops $3.5 million and has been accruing interest for two years.

Days after becoming the city's first black district attorney in 2003, Jordan fired dozens of longtime employees -- including clerks, typists, investigators and other support staff -- to make room for loyalists and others who worked on his campaign.

While Jordan said he was applying his political prerogative to build his own staff after taking the helm of an office led for decades by Harry Connick, a federal jury in 2005 found him liable for employment discrimination for firing all whites and replacing them with blacks.

Fifth Circuit Court Judges Will Garwood, Emilio Garza and Rhesa Barksdale heard Jordan's appeal in April and ruled against him Wednesday, finding that the jury had enough evidence to determine that race was a motivating factor in firing the 43 people who later sued him. Forty-two were white and one was Hispanic.