STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

SYRUS HAKIMIAN, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 88-6273

)

ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, )

PUBLIC WORKS AND DEVELOPMENT )

DIVISION, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, final hearing in the above-styled case was held on March 7, 1989, in Orlando, Florida, before Robert E. Meale, Hearing Officer of the Division of Administrative Hearings.

The representatives of the parties were as follows: For Petitioner: Syrus Hakimian, pro se

3401-C George Mason Avenue

Winter Park, Florida 32792

For Respondent: Thomas W. Ackert

Assistant County Administrator Post Office Box 1390

Orlando, Florida 32802-1393

By Charge of Discrimination dated March 24, 1988, Petitioner alleged that the Orange County Engineering Department had discriminated by failing to hire him because of his national origin, which is Iranian.

After its investigation, the Florida Commission on Human Relations issued on November 9, 1988, a Notice of Determination: No Cause.

By Petition for Relief dated December 8, 1988, Petitioner alleged that Orange County was guilty of employment discrimination for its failure to hire him for an opening as an Engineer I because he is Iranian. He also alleged that during the preceding year he had been denied other positions for which he had applied.

At the hearing, Petitioner presented three witnesses, including himself, and offered into evidence four exhibits. Respondent presented two witnesses and offered into evidence one exhibit. All exhibits were admitted except Petitioner's Exhibit 4. Respondent's Exhibit 1, which is a voluminous collection of primarily investigative material, was admitted to the extent not inadmissible hearsay.

Both parties filed a proposed recommended order. Treatment accorded the proposed findings of fact is detailed in the Appendix.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Respondent employed at least 15 persons for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks during the years in question.

   
   

2. Petitioner, whose country of origin is Iran, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Central Florida. In early 1987. Petitioner submitted to Orange County an application for employment. The application was accidentally lost, resulting in the passage of several months during which Petitioner was not considered for employment.

   
   

3. After expressing his frustration with the personnel department, Petitioner submitted another application in the fall of 1987. Relations between Petitioner and the personnel department were strained as Petitioner repeatedly followed up on his application and demanded an internal investigation into the matter.

   
   

4. Although warning him that he was over-qualified for the position, the personnel department arranged for Petitioner to interview for an opening as an Engineering Technician III with the Orange County Highway Construction and Maintenance Department.

   
   

5. On February 11, 1968, William Baxter, manager of the Orange County Highway Construction and Maintenance Department, interviewed Petitioner for the above-described position. During the course of the interview, Mr. Baxter decided that Petitioner was over-qualified for the Engineering Technician III position. However, aware that a person serving as an Engineer I had quit a few days earlier, Mr. Baxter summoned William E. Whyte, assistant manager of the same department, to join in the interview.

   
   

6. At the conclusion of the interview, Mr. Baxter and Mr. Whyte told Petitioner that he would not have to submit to another interview for the Engineer I position. They did not, however, promise the position to Petitioner, although the interview had generally gone well for him. Mr. Baxter and Mr. Whyte mentioned that the position first had to be made available for then- existing qualified employees, but they were unaware of any who had applied. The job opening had been advertised publicly at about the same time that it had been posted internally.

   
   

7. Pursuant to the requirements of the Orange County Commission Personnel Policy Manual, Section 2.11, the Highway Construction and Maintenance Department posted the Engineer I vacancy notice for existing employees on February 12, 1988. The notice stated that the position was delinquent in minorities: black.

   
   

8. On February 17, 1989, Mr. Rolando L. Raymundo, a Filipino then employed by the department as an Engineer Technician IV, applied for the Engineer I position for which Petitioner was being considered. Mr. Raymundo also held a college degree in civil engineering and was more experienced than Petitioner in the work involved.

   
   

9. Due to other responsibilities, neither Mr. Baxter or Mr. Whyte pursued the Engineer I opening for a couple of months. On April 27, 1988, Mr. Whyte interviewed Mr. Raymundo, whom he recommended on that date for promotion to Engineer I, effective May 15, 1988.

10. In the meantime, no one with Orange County informed Petitioner of the status of his application or the fact that Mr. Raymundo eventually had been hired to fill the position. This treatment was not unique to Petitioner, however. Due to the number of applications received and personnel available to process applications, the personnel department does not routinely inform unsuccessful applicants that they have not been chosen for a particular position.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

11. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

    
    

12. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to employment because of such individual's national origin. It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to limit, segregate, or classify applicants for employment in any way that deprives such individuals of employment opportunities because of such individual's national origin. Section 760.10(1), Florida Statutes.

    
    

13. Respondent is an employer within the meaning of the statute and is thus subject to the jurisdiction of the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Section 760.02(6), Florida Statutes.

    
    

14. The provisions of Sections 760.01-760-10, Florida Statutes, are analogous to those of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sections 2000e et seq. Cases interpreting Title VII are therefore applicable to Sections 760.01-760.10. School Board of Leon County v. Hargis, 400 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).

* NOTE: LAST PAGES OF THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER

ARE CURRENTLY unavailable

the Division's Clerk's Office is currently attempting to locate them for the ACCESS program.

Docket for Case No: 88-006273

Orders for Case No: 88-006273