NAACP LDF Hails Unprecedented Agreement from Georgia Agency

    136 ; 

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Wicaed President 

Hon. Francis E. Rivers 

ea BAA) E PRESS RELEASE Director-Counsel 

‘i, egal fefense lund 
Jack Greenberg 

Director, Public Relation 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 
Jens DeVore, = 

10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 FOR RELEASE NlGHY NUMBER 212-749-8487 

Wednesday, July 3r 

NAACP LDF HAILS UNPRECEDENTED 
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AGREEMENT FROM GEORGIA AGENCY 
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Atlanta, Ga. -- The Georgia State Employment Agency this week agreed | 

to serve all potential employees without regard to race, creed, or | 

color. 

The unprecedented agreement grew out of a suit filed against 

the state agency by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 

Inc. (LDF) 

Attorney Howard Moore, a LDF cooperating attorney, filed suit 

in U. S. District Court on pehalf of 33-year-old Negro Robert 

Anthony. 

The suit was the first ever filed against a state employment 

agency, attorney Moore said, and the resulting conciliating agree- 

ment is expected to have nation-wide impact on employment practices 

in the country, he continued. 

anthony had received training in air conditioning through a 

program sponsored by the Georgia State Employment Agency. He 

charged, however, that after completion of the course the agency 

denied him access to jobs requiring the skills he had acquired 

because of his race. 

In the conciliation agreement accepted by the Court this week, 

the state agency has agreed to offer Anthony and all other members 

of his training class jobs they are trained for and placement assis- 

tance through referrals to employers who have openings. 

Additionally, the state agency agreed to more stipulations 

applicable to all would-be employees. They include the following: 

To refrain from recording any identification by 

code or otherwise of the race, color, or national 

origin of the applicants except as may be required 

by the Secretary of Labor 

To provide applicants with all information perti- 

nent to their registration for work 

Applicants, including minority group applicants, 

shall be specifically advised of opportunities in 

areas of employment for which they are qualified 

or through training may become qualified 

Will not select or refer an individual for employ- 

ment or training where job specification such as 

length of experience, union membership, residence, 

school or other requirement has the necessary effect 

under the circumstances of resulting in discrimin- 

ation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, 

or national origin. 

The agreement, which LDF Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg termed 

“far reaching and creative", also covers such areas as testing, se- 

Ps lection of trainees, and dissemination of information. 

Anthony, commenting on the importance of the agreement, said 

"It's a wonderful thing for black people in the future. They will 

now have a real chance to get jobs for which they are trained and 

qualified." 

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