Deal Would Give Plaintiffs About $3M in DA Race Bias Case
Dozens of employees who won a suit against New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan for firing them because they were white would receive about $3 million under a deal financed by the city and the state of Louisiana.
The troubled DA’s office was facing threats from lawyers for the fired employees to begin seizing bank accounts and other assets to pay the judgment, the New York Times reports.
Jordan was forced out of office last month. His successor is Keva Landrum-Johnson, who said the deal removes the looming financial crisis posed by the judgment, which had grown to $3.7 million with interest, the Times-Picayune reports.
“Since I became DA several weeks ago, our office had been plagued by threat that there would be a cease in operations,” she said at a news conference yesterday. “Today, I’m pleased that this is not the case.”
The Times-Picayune says the state would pay $1.6 million, the city $1 million as an advance, and the DA’s office $300,000, for a total of $2.9 million. Jordan had previously made a $300,000 payment to the plaintiffs.
The agreement still must be finalized with plaintiffs and approved by a state legislative committee.
