City May Have Discriminated in Hiring Bridge Painters

The Justice Department is accusing New York City of sex discrimination in its hiring of bridge painters.

Although the city has received applications from four women who were qualified to be bridge painters in the last decade, it has refused to hire any of them for the job, according to a complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The legal complaint says the four women applied for the job between 1997 and 1999. During that hiring period, the city instead decided to fill 12 bridge painting vacancies with men, according to the complaint.

The legal complaint does not state whether any women have applied since. Prosecutors say all of the approximately 100 bridge painters in New York City are men.