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Blacks Employed by City File Bias Complaint: ‘San Francisco Should be Ashamed,’ They Say

San Francisco’s city employee workforce is 36,000 and Black people make up 12% of that, approximately 4,320 Black city employees.

Published

4 years ago

April 1, 2021

Kiki

Jessica Brown, Black Employees Alliance photo courtesy LinkedIn

On March 15, 2021, the Black Employees Alliance and the Coalition Against Anti-Blackness filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) based on public records data from 2012 to 2020 and alleged disparities in discipline, pay and raises.

The groups also alerted the City of San Francisco’s Ethics Commission.

San Francisco’s city employee workforce is 36,000 and Black people make up 12% of that, approximately 4,320 Black city employees.

The Black Employees Alliance has 410 members.

Based on the data, the complaint also alleged that there were pay and bonus disparities between white and Asian managers and Black managers data showed that Black city employees were the subject of 21% of the discipline and corrective actions.

Based on the allegations, the groups also wrote a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and other city department heads stating that “San Francisco should be ashamed.”

Jessica Brown, a Black Employees Alliance leader told the San Francisco Chronicle: “[i]t’s an injustice. We really want the city to move into action.”

The city has acknowledged the racial gaps in discipline and pay, but says those are in the past and are being addressed. A March of 2020 report published by the San Francisco Chronicle said “that Black employees held lower-paying jobs, were less likely to be promoted, and were more frequently disciplined and fired.”

The city denies the disparities in raises that the Black Employees Alliance alleges in their complaint.

Next steps are a meeting in May with the Alliance and the state to determine whether DFEH will accept the complaint for investigation.

“We have a lot of work to do, but it is very valid that Black employees are paid less in certain roles, and not promoted proportionally and that they are the subject of disproportionate disciplinary action by city departments. This has to change. . . . “ Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton said in a statement in response to the complaint.

The San Francisco Chronicle, thegrio.com, and missionlocal.org were sources for this report.

Kiki

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

6 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.