Page 4-Friday, July 24, 1981--The Michigan Daily
Record damages
ordered in housing
discrimination suit
I
CHICAGO (AP) - An heiress and a;
housing association have been ordered
by a federal judge to pay almost
$300,000 in damages to a black couple
for plotting to prevent them from
moving into a $675,000 home in subur-
ban Oak Brook.
The award is believed to be the
largest ever ordered in a housing
discrimination suit, F. Willis Caruso,
attorney for the couple, said yesterday.
"THERE .(IN the subdivision),
people have tremendous wealth," he
said. "To have a'message .substantial
enough,.it has to sting enough. Sure, it's
big (the damages) but the clients are
big.',
U.S. District Judge Prentice Mar-
shall on Wednesday ordered heiress
Jorie Ford Butler and the Hunter Trails.
Homeowners Association to pay a total
of $288,691 to William and Dorothy
Phillips, who wanted to buy a house in
the exclusive Husnter Trails subdivision
in west suburban Oak Brook.
THE JUDGE'S decision came
several months after Marshall found
the association and Butler -_the
daughter of the late multimillionaire
Paul Butler, the major developer of
Reporters that go
where the story is.
J oli 5
Oak Brook - had violated the couple's
civil rights by trying to block the sale.
The Phillipses plan to move into the
home "in a few weeks," said Martin
McNally, another attorney for the
couple, who added they don't feel "any
animosity" toward neighborhood
residents.
McNally said the Phillipses would not
comment on the matter. "They're just
tired and they want to move in. They're
not elated. This is not the type of thing
to be elated with. They just hope they
can go on and live their life."
PHILLIPS, 38, owner of a small chain
of Chicago-area car washes, had
agreed to buy the house a year agofrom
Dennis Broderick for 675,000, accor-
ding to the civil lawsuit.
But Butler and the association
worked outa deal in July 1980 to sell the
house to Butler after they learned of the
couple's race, the lawsuit charged.
Under the judge's order, Butler and
the association each mtfst pay the
Phillipses $100,000 in punitive damages
and split the remainder in compen-
satory damages andlegal fees.
MCNALLY SAID he hoped the case
would prevent housing discrimination
in the future. "Three hundred-thousand
dollars - is a lot of money," he said.
"People are going to remember that."
Wayne Giampietro, attorney for the
homeowners group, said the damage
award is "all out of proportion to total
reality."
He also denied that residents of Hun-
ter Trails engaged in prejudicial
behavior. "This is not a lily white sub-
division by any means," he said.
"There's a number of people living
there of foreign derivation."
Giampietro said he will urge the
association to appeal Marshall's order.
A spokeswoman for the 95-member
association declined comment on the
damages, saying, "Forget it."
The attorney for Butler was not in his
office yesterday and did not return the
AP's telephone call.
In Brief
Compiled from Associated Press and
United Press International reports
Chrysler, UAW agree
on profit sharing plan
DETROIT-The United Auto Workers union and Chrysler Corp. announ-
ced details yesterday of a pioneering profit-sharing plan for blue collar
workers that could repreetnt a new direction for the entire auto industry.
Chrysler and the UAW agreed in January to work out a profit-sharing
scheme, part of a contract settlement that granted more than $600 million in
wage and benefit concessions to help keep the company afloat.
The plan will begin rewarding workers when Chrysler-shows an annual
profit exceeding 10 percent of its net worth. That could happen as early as
next year, said UAW Vice President Marc Stepp, head ofthe union's
Chrysler Department.
Under the plan, workers would receive Chrysler stock or credit toward car
purchases when the company shows a year-long profit. That Would be in ad-
dition to shares received under a separate stock-ownership plan for workers.
Mayor upset by removal
of third K.C. walkway
KANSAS CITY, Mo.,-Workers using torches and a crane dismantled the
last remaining walkway over the Hyatt Regency Hotal lobby before dawn
yesterday, and the mayor warned the action "would not build public con-
fidenfce" in the investigation of last week's disaster.
Mayor Richard Berkley said federal officials told him "there would be ad-
vantages to testing the third bridge in place" in efforts to determine what
caused the second- and fourth-floor walkways to fall. The third-floor walk-
way was not positioned between the others and remained standing.
In another development, the Occupational Safety and Health Ad-
ministration said a construction accident that collapsed a section of the
hotel's atrium roof 20 months ago did not involve safety violations and
probably had no relation to the skywalk disaster.
An OSHA official said the construction accident in October 1979 was not in
the same area as the skywalks that collapsed. A section of the atrium roof
fell four stories into the lobby during a weekend when no one was in the
building and there were no injuries.
Nuclear rules removed
by Health Department
LANSING-The state Department of Public Health withdrew rules
covering nuclear power plant emergencies from legislative committee con-
sideration yesterday rather than risk a second straight defeat.
The action came at a meeting of the Joint Administrative Rules Commit-
tee, which last month dumped the same guidelines.
The move means the state will continue to operate under 1977 rules drawn
up long before the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. A set
drawn up after the accident expired in May.
The rules set down a framework for the state's nuclear emergency plans
drawn up by both the state police and the health department. Utility officials
have loudly protested a guideline which requires them to notify local agen-
cies if an emergency occurs.
One Army division still unfit
WASHINGTON-Less than a year after conceding that six of its 10 U.S.-
based divisions were unfit for combat, the Army said yesterday that all but
one have1shapedlup.
Gen. Edward Meyer, Army chief of staff, said in an interview the tur-
nabout resulted from advances in manning, equiping and training.
Last September, the Army acknowledged that six of its 10 U.S.-based
divisions were below readiness levels, Meyer declined to single out any
specific divisions for discussion, but it is known that the 7th Infantry Division
at Fort Ord, Calif., is the only such outfit still rated as unready.
Looking to the future, the Army has proposed increasing its regular
strength by about 80,000 over the next five years to provide two more division
forces. It also has recommended adding some 20,000 to 30,000 to the national
guard and reserves to help man two proposed new backup divisions.
If the Army recommendation for increased strength, which has been en-
couraged by Pentagon officials who have shaped a global conventional war
strategy, should be translated into Reagan administration policy, the Army
would top 800,000 men and women within a year or two.
Seagram ups bid for Conoco
NEW YORK-The multi-billion dollar bidding battle for Conoco Inc.
escalated yesterday as Joseph Seagran & Sons raised its bid by alost $300
million to $4.1 billion and disclosed that millions of Conoco shares have
already been tendered under its previous offer.
Seagram, the U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian-based liquor concern,
boosted its cash offer to $92 a share from $85 for at least 51 percent of
Conoco's stock as executives at Mobil Oil Corp. considered sweetening its $90
a share-or $7.74 billion-offer.
Eugene Nowak, an oil analyst at Dean Witter Reynolds, said the bidding
forthention's ninth largestoilcompany could go as high as $110 a share.
Read the Daily todayl
'1-SHIRT
'PINTINcj
Ann Arbor's fastest!
From 10-800 T-shirts screeriprint-
ed within 24 hours of order.
Multi-color printing our specialty.
You supply art or use our expert
design staff.
Hundreds of surplus T-shirts only
$2. each. Located behind the Blnd Pig cafe
20812s First St Phone 994-1367
A"NA BR
Break-in on Willard
A house on the 1100 block of Willard
was broken into between 8 a.m. on the
12th and 8a.m. on the 13th, police repor-
ted yesterday. The thief apparently
gained entry by prying off a bedroom
screen. Police said a Kenwood AM-FM
stereo receiver valued at $250 was
stolen.
NEW! E
Bult Fo ince 193all-ea
AnnArbor Inn -
Garden-fresh, all-you-can-eat
Fourth nd Hyou
508V'h n turInOS -, ;50 ,SA"'L4D BAA!