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LAWSUIT Continued From Page 1A
April 28 - May 4, 2016 • Page 5A
this family,” Davis said. “What
we have seen is this pattern,
unfortunately, of...law enforcement
as well as law enforcement types
or even vigilantes getting away
with the physical abuse of young
African-American men.
“From Trayvon Martin forward
it has been very difficult for the
criminal justice system...to find
justice for these young men who
have been physically assaulted,
and in some cases even killed, by
those that we would expect...to
protect them and other patrons,”
Davis said.
Davis said the civil lawsuit was
filed “to not only hold these officers
accountable for their abuse and
their negligence and their physical
attacks against him, but also to
bring a suit against...Securitas
Security Services USA as well as
the Stonecrest Mall.”
“We want to hold the individual
and corporate wrongdoers
accountable for the harm they
caused this young man,” said
Harold Spence, the lead attorney
in the case. “We know that we
cannot reverse what happened to
him. The punches and kicks that
met their target—we can’t reverse
those. The profane and vulgar
insults that he had to endure—we
can’t reverse those either.
“But what we can do is
pursue this lawsuit to hold these
wrongdoers accountable for the
harm that they did to this young
man,” Spence said.
Hamm said her son has healed
physically, but “mentally we’re still
dealing with, day to day, how he
was mistreated by adult individuals
at the mall.”
rHI Continued From Page 1A
The cost of the across-the-board
pay hike is estimated at $3.03 million,
which will be funded by the respective
budgets of the affected departments or
by the county’s fund balance.
In the past seven years, DeKalb
County employee pay has been
negatively impacted by the suspension
of merit pay increases; furlough
days and unpaid holidays; increased
employee contributions to insurance
and pension plans, according to
Ransom.
“A number of our positions are
either undervalued or overvalued when
you look at what the qualifications and
experience and certifications are,”
Ransom said.
DeKalb County hired the Archer
Company to conduct a comprehensive
pay and classification study, looking
at the pay for the county’s 7,000
employees and 865 job titles.
Chip King of the Archer Company
said the consultants asked, “Is the pay
that DeKalb is using—in terms of pay
raises and in terms of the actual pay—
competitive in the market?
“Generally speaking your pay
ranges were low in the market, and
that wasn’t a surprise to anybody,” King
said. “In fact in some cases, [they were]
as much as 30 percent behind market.
“Your pay ranges were in such bad
shape that [they were] impacting the
county’s ability to recruit folks,” he said.
According to the study, pay ranges
are at least 10-15 percent behind
market for positions such as equipment
operators, crew workers, maintenance
workers, accountants and planners.
King said a significant number
of positions are 25-30 percent or
more behind. Among these positions
are meter mechanics, fleet service
technicians, electricians, crew
supervisors, auditors, biologists,
attorneys, property appraisers and
detention officers.
The Board of Commissioners
voted to table another resolution
that would set the minimum wage
for all employees under the control
of the county CEO or Board of
Commissioners at $10.10 per hour.
The proposal was introduced in
February by Commissioner Mereda
Davis Johnson.
Commissioners plan to consider the
pay hike in June.
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