More bickering than progress in U-46 bias suit

With little progress in settlement talks, lawyers continued to bicker Wednesday over the exchange of information in the 3 1/2-year-old racial discrimination lawsuit against Elgin Area School District U-46.

At two consecutive morning hearings, U-46 lawyer Michael Hernandez told federal judges he believes a copy of an Aug. 1 settlement proposal was leaked to members of the press.

That proposal was deemed "unreasonable" by the district in early Sept. U-46 sent the plaintiffs a counteroffer Sept. 26.

Carol Ashley, an attorney for the Elgin families suing the district, denied being the source of any leaks, but said some community feedback is necessary when discussing settlement offers in a case that could affect more than 25,000 of the district's current and former students.

Still, Ashley said her clients have been advised to keep mum on the terms of any potential deal.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettleman called the district's claim about leaking the Aug. 1 proposal a "serious problem."

"You've got to keep these things close to the vest or (settlement) is never going to happen," he said.

Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason ordered Hernandez to write a report about the claim for the court to review.

The discrimination suit claims U-46 violated the rights of Latino and black students by providing them with inferior educational opportunities; forcing them to ride buses farther and more often than white students; and sending them to older, more crowded schools. To date, the suit has cost the district more than $5.9 in legal fees.

Ashley said her clients will give a written response to the district's counteroffer by Oct. 27, later than initially expected. She blamed the delay on an Oct. 16 deadline for oral discovery, where parties interview a number of witnesses in the case.

"We need to finish up what we've begun, then we can give defendants a response," she said.

While the two settlement proposals are different, Ashley told the court her clients believe it would be beneficial to engage in settlement talks.

"We don't think the demands are so far apart," she said.

Lawyers will appear before Mason again on Nov. 4.

"Save money and get this resolved," he urged the parties.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=239982"> Elgin families to answer U-46 counteroffer <span class="date">[10/3/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=235941">Appellate court won't consider reversing class-action ruling in U-46 bias case <span class="date">[09/18/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=235696">Judge urges sides to consider mediator in U-46 lawsuit <span class="date">[09/18/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=233316">School districts walk fine line between integration, discrimination <span class="date">[09/08/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=232042">U-46 reviewing new settlement offer in bias suit <span class="date">[09/02/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=229700">U-46 asks court to reverse class-action status <span class="date">[08/23/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=229094">U-46, other districts struggle to serve changing population <span class="date">[08/21/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=228801">U-46 foes say there's a common thread at work: District is too big <span class="date">[08/20/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=227258">Community members look to new U-46 chief to nudge settlement talks <span class="date">[08/13/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=226956">Judge grants class-action status to U-46 bias suit <span class="date">[08/11/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>