Long Beach City Hall is quietly trying to put a long‑running discrimination battle behind it. Five current and former city employees told a Los Angeles Superior Court judge this week they have reached an unconditional settlement in a 2021 lawsuit that accused the city of systematically keeping Black workers in lower‑paying, unclassified positions, denying them promotions and equal pay, and fostering what they described as an anti‑Black workplace culture. The plaintiffs are Christopher Stuart, Eric Bailey, Deborah Hill, Sharon Hamilton, and Donnell Russell Jauregui. Court papers filed Wednesday did not disclose any of the settlement terms.
What the plaintiffs said was happening
The June 2021 complaint claimed Long Beach paid Black employees less than similarly situated non‑Black coworkers, disproportionately steered them into unclassified or lower‑paying roles, and blocked them from reclassification and advancement. The workers pointed to figures in the city’s own 2018 workforce report that they said showed racial gaps in hiring and pay, and alleged that some of the tools the city used to decide who moved up the ladder, including the Wonderlic exam, put qualified Black candidates at a disadvantage.
The allegations were laid out when the lawsuit was first filed, according to the Los Angeles Times. The full complaint is available through ClassAction.org.
How the deal surfaced and how the city pushed back
Attorneys for the workers informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cunningham III in filings Wednesday that the sides had reached what they called an "unconditional" resolution. The papers did not reveal whether the agreement includes money, policy changes, or anything else.
In sworn declarations filed earlier in the case, the plaintiffs described what they called "race‑based pay and promotion discrimination" and retaliation. Lawyers for the city countered that some of the claims were time‑barred and argued that the personnel decisions being challenged stretched over more than twenty years. The notice of settlement and those positions were reported by MyNewsLA.
What the workers were trying to change
The case was not just about cutting checks. Beyond any financial relief, the plaintiffs asked the court for broader fixes inside City Hall: back pay to account for alleged disparities, a revamped job‑analysis and job‑valuation system, a trauma‑informed process for handling complaints, and even a truth and reconciliation commission to address what they said were institutional harms affecting Black employees.
Those requested remedies and the statistical evidence the workers cited were detailed when the suit was first spotlighted, according to TopClassActions. The underlying legal filing is also posted by ClassAction.org.
What Long Beach is waiting on now
For now, the public court record does not say whether the settlement includes payouts, outside monitoring, or specific orders requiring the city to overhaul its policies. Judge Cunningham has not yet entered a final order closing the case.
Local advocates and city workers who have been pushing for more equity in hiring and pay are likely to be combing the docket for details once more documents hit the file. The initial notice that a deal had been reached was first reported by MyNewsLA.
