BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Less than a week after settling one federal discrimination lawsuit, Birmingham Mayor William Bell's administration is headed back to court after being hit with another employee's claim of mistreatment.

Bell's administration is accused of racial discrimination, favoritism and retaliation in a new lawsuit from a longtime city employee and former deputy department head.

Charles Yates, a supervisor in the Public Works Department and a former deputy director, alleges that under Bell's leadership, the city "became permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult."

Yates, who is white, claims he was forced to take a lower-paying position and demeaned, including being told to stay out of City Hall and take a stairwell when in the building.

He also claims the city violated rules regarding employee testing and overtime assignments to favor a select group of workers.

"The city's final decision-makers engaged in foregoing discriminatory actions," according to the lawsuit. "In addition, the city has established a custom and policy of race-based discrimination."

Yates' lawsuit is the third in a series of federal discrimination claims from former high ranking city officials.

Former city clerk Paula Smith, who is black, alleged disability discrimination and settled her case last week. The dollar amount, which is currently undisclosed, must be approved by the City Council.

In addition, ongoing legal action continues involving longtime senior accountant Virginia Spidle, who accuses the city of racial discrimination. Spidle is white.

All three plaintiffs primarily blame Bell and his chief of operations Jarvis Patton for their mistreatment.

"Despite protestations by plaintiff and other Caucasian employees, a racially charged hostile work environment was instigated, encouraged and condoned by top city officials, specifically Mayor Bell and CO Patton," Yates alleges in his lawsuit.

Birmingham city officials typically do not comment on pending litigation and again declined to comment on the latest lawsuit.

Unfair hiring and overtime allegations:

Yates claims on at least one occasion an applicant was given answers to a pre-employment test that included a typographical error. The erroneous answer was then given by the applicant who received the job, over other applicants.

Yates said when he reported the problem he was then barred from participating in further job interviews.

"The applicants who were denied employment were experienced painters who are Caucasian," according to the lawsuit.

Further, Yates said the city's distribution of overtime to workers is unfair and in violation of the Laborers International Union agreement.

He said Chuck Faush, Bell's chief of staff, demanded that he not rotate workers even though failure to do so would give high amounts of overtime to a few workers.

"This practice had been going on during the Bell administration contrary to the LIU agreement," according to the lawsuit. "As a result of this LIU violation, a selected few people receive a disproportionate amount of overtime - causing dissension among other employees including Caucasians who have not been given the opportunity to earn extra pay."

Yates' overtime assignments were then used as a reason for his low performance rating, the first negative he had ever received, according to the lawsuit.

Yates served as the city's facility manager responsible for overseeing repairs and maintenance at all city properties, including Crossplex, Legion Field and park and recreation buildings.

'A calculated effort' alleged:

Yates said he was treated fairly under former Mayors Richard Arrington, Bernard Kincaid, and was promoted to deputy director under Larry Langford. But things changed dramatically under the Bell administration, he said.

Yates alleges his treatment further deteriorated when he spoke out against racism at the city, specifically regarding Spidle.

Spidle was fired twice on allegations of racism and incompetence. She won her job back, then in January slapped the city with a federal lawsuit saying it was Bell's administration that was the true perpetrator of racial discrimination.

Spidle's lawsuit, similar to the one filed by Yates, alleges that the city has a pattern of discrimination and retaliation against white employees. Yates' attorney, Gayle Gear, is the same lawyer representing Spidle.

"We did not want it to go this far. But even though this is costly, we cannot afford to have a city divided," Gear told AL.com. "We cannot afford to have leaders in city government take actions that are discriminatory to any race."

Fearing he would be fired, Yates said he gave up his appointed management position and instead sought a lower-paying civil service position after he was stripped of responsibilities.

Yates describes eventually standing up for his own civil rights, telling Bell that he would no longer use the stairwell or hide his presence at City Hall.

He said Patton offered to allow him back into senior management but he declined, no longer trusting the administration and preferring to remain under the protection of the Jefferson County Personnel Board.

Yates also said he refused to back away from his previous claims of racial mistreatment by city leaders, a demand made by Patton.

Yates was a key worker in designing and building the city's traveling 1963 civil rights exhibit on tour last year, and traveled with the display.

While the exhibit was designed to show a contrast of Birmingham's past to its present, Yates' claims a different reality existed for him in recent years inside City Hall.

"This clearly shows a calculated effort to rid the ranks of white people," Gear said. "I'm confident that the good people of Birmingham would not approve of this. We're going to resolve this."

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