FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CR
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1994                                        (202) 616-2765
                                                         TDD (202) 514-1888


            JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES ASSUMPTION PARISH LOUISIANA
            SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT FOR ALLEGED SEX DISCRIMINATION
                                    
                                    
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Louisiana Sheriff's Department that 
allegedly refused to consider female applicants for deputy
sheriff and had not hired a female for the position until this
summer was sued today by the Justice Department.
     The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans,
alleged that the Assumption Parish Sheriff's Department
discriminated against women on the basis of sex in violation of
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  
     The complaint asserted that the Sheriff's Department refused
to consider hiring April Jones Cola, a former applicant for the
position of deputy sheriff, and also engaged in a pattern of
discrimination against women in general.
     According to the complaint, no woman had been hired for the
position since July 1976.  The Sheriff's Department first hired a
woman in August 1994, after the Justice Department concluded its
investigation.
     "We are committed to ensuring that the American workplace is
free of discrimination," said Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.  "All qualified individuals must
be considered for employment opportunities regardless of their
sex."
     Cola first filed a complaint with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which concluded that the Sheriff's
Department had discriminated against her.  The Justice Department
then conducted its own investigation and in March 1994, notified
the Sheriff's Department that its hiring practices discriminated
against qualified female applicants.  Efforts to resolve the case
through negotiations broke down.
     "Invidious discrimination against women cannot be tolerated,
especially in law enforcement," said Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., U.S.
Attorney in New Orleans.
     Today's complaint seeks an order requiring the Sheriff's
Department to stop any discriminatory practices, establish a
recruitment program designed to attract qualified female
applicants for the position of deputy sheriff, and provide
relief, including job offers and monetary compensation, to women
who have been victims of the discriminatory practices.
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