Aides to Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday that they would not disclose the names of the 773 city workers laid off in recent waves of budget cuts nor disclose basic data on those hired since the layoffs took effect in November and December.
The announcement was immediately criticized by opposition aldermen, union leaders and civil rights attorneys, who contend that race and politics played a role in who was fired and who was not.
”They are withholding this information in defiance of the law of the land,” said Ald. Jesse Evans (21st), one of those who requested the data.
”It is the epitome of arrogance. How far will this administration go in defying the public`s right to know?”
Daley aides released a two-page handout this week showing a racial breakdown of the laid-off employees. The handout revealed that minorities make up 44 percent of the city work force but 78 percent of those fired and that African-Americans in particular bore the brunt of the layoffs.
But city Freedom of Information Officer Martin Stack said he could not disclose any more information-such as the workers` names, job titles, salaries and termination dates-because he said there was no existing document containing that information and creating one would be a burdensome paperwork requirement on the city.
Stack also said release of the information could trample on the privacy rights of laid-off employees. He said he did not think the city could identify laid-off workers without first asking their permission.
Stack`s explanations were rejected by aldermen and attorneys.
”The Personnel Department has a management information system that we`ve spent tens of millions of dollars on, and if we can`t identify less than 1,000 employees who were laid off in recent weeks, then we haven`t gotten our money`s worth,” said Ald. Lawrence Bloom (5th).
”Obviously, they have this information,” said Henry Bayer, deputy director of Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents over half the laid-off employees and has filed about 450 grievances on their behalf. ”How can the city not know the names of the people they`ve laid off?”
As for the city`s desire to protect the privacy rights of laid-off employees, ”that`s an unusual interpretation of the law,” said state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), sponsor of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Currie said that while the 8-year-old law allows officials to withhold personal information about government employees, that exemption does not cover basic information such as their names, titles, salaries and dates of employment.
A team of attorneys led by former mayoral candidate R. Eugene Pincham and Judson Miner, former corporation counsel, said it was preparing to file a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the laid-off employees.
”It appears obvious that these layoffs are based upon race and political affiliation and are discriminatory,” Pincham said.
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”The administration is doing precisely the opposite of what it promised: It is locking out people, not including them; it is stonewalling rather than opening itself to public scrutiny.”
Referring to the possibility of a lawsuit, Evans said, ”At some point in time, this data will come out. I don`t see why the mayor won`t lay it on the table now. If there`s nothing to hide, then why make it look like a cover-up is taking place?”
Evans called the denial of his request for information ”an insult.”
Bloom said: ”This just raises the question of how many other people have been taken off the payroll that this administration hasn`t told us about. In light of their inability to produce these numbers, are any of the city`s figures believable?”