FAA Told Plaintiff He Was 'Wrong Color For The Job': Princeton Attorney Hanan Isaacs Tries Employment Discrimination Case

PR Newswire - Tuesday April 6, 2004

NEWARK, N.J., Apr 6, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Attorney Hanan M. Isaacs will try the nationally significant employment discrimination case of Michael C. Ryan, who alleges that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) passed him over for promotion because he is white and male. The case, Michael C. Ryan v. Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, pits merit promotion principles against an unlawful affirmative action program.

In a rare legal move, John W. Bissell, Chief Judge of the Federal District Court, District of New Jersey, granted Ryan's motion to sue the federal government for violating his constitutional rights to equal protection under the law. Judge Bissell will try this case under both Title VII of the United States Code and the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause before a jury starting April 28, 2004. Hanan M. Isaacs, Princeton, NJ, is representing the plaintiff, Mr. Ryan. US Attorney Christopher Christie, is representing the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation.

Ryan, with the FAA since 1976, is a white male employee at the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. The FAA has repeatedly denied Ryan's promotion bids, despite his respected 28-year FAA career.

"We will show that Ryan was denied promotions because, as stated by an FAA employee who worked for one of the selecting officials, he was "the wrong color for the jobs," says Isaacs.

Ryan will show that the FAA used an unwritten but well publicized "50-50" policy, under which FAA managers were required, as a condition of their own performance reviews, to promote women and minorities at least 50% of the time. Ryan's lawsuit seeks to have those policies declared void as a matter of federal constitutional and statutory law. Ryan seeks a promotion, back pay, pain and suffering damages, counsel fees, a declaratory judgment, and injunctive relief.

About Hanan M. Isaacs

Hanan M. Isaacs is Past President, NJ Association of Professional Mediators and Past Chairman, Dispute Resolution Section, NJ State Bar Association. He served on NJ Supreme Court's Complementary Dispute Resolution Committee and is Master of two Inns of Court. Recognized by the NJ Bar as "ADR Practitioner of 1999-2000" and "General Practitioner of 1994", Mr. Isaacs is a frequent journal author and public speaker.

SOURCE Hanan Isaacs

Katherine Kish, +1-609-799-8898, Mekish@aol.com, for Hanan
Isaacs