CITYWIDE

Former Employee Suing Columbia for Alleged Discrimination

A former analyst at Columbia University is again suing the institution for almost $100 million, claiming top officials have practiced systematic discrimination by promoting few, if any, dark-skinned people to senior management positions in its facilities and real estate department. Randy Raghavendra, 45, who has several master’s degrees, worked for the Morningside Heights campus for about five years before being fired in 2005. The lawsuit claims Mr. Raghavendra’s superiors passed him up for promotions because of his age, color, and national origin, as well as organized a “cover-up” of “racial atrocities.” The Ivy League college faced other discrimination suits in 2002 from a former director of equal opportunity and affirmative action. A spokesman for Columbia didn’t immediately return phone calls seeking comment last night.

—Special to the Sun

JFK Passenger Wearing Arabic Script T-Shirt Prevented From Flying

An Arab human rights activist says he was prevented from boarding a plane at Kennedy International Airport while wearing a T-shirt that said, “We will not be silent” in English and Arabic. The incident happened Aug. 12 when Raed Jarrar was preparing to board a JetBlue flight from Kennedy to Oakland, Calif. Four officials from JetBlue or from a government agency stopped him at the gate and told him he couldn’t get on the plane wearing his shirt, Mr. Jarrar said in a telephone interview yesterday. Jenny Dervin, a spokeswoman for JetBlue, acknowledged that the dispute occurred and said the airline was investigating it. Ms. Dervin said there are no specific rules governing apparel. “Each situation is different,” she said. Jarrar is the director of the Iraq project for Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization. The incident was resolved when the officials gave Mr. Jarrar another shirt to put over the offending T-shirt and he put it on rather than miss his flight. Ms. Dervin said it was unclear whether JetBlue, the federal Transportation Security Administration or the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, told Mr. Jarrar to remove his shirt. Jarrar, 28, is half Iraqi and half Palestinian and moved to the United States last year from Jordan, where he was studying.

He said he has filed a complaint with JetBlue and is considering legal action. “We Will Not Be Silent” is a slogan adopted by opponents of the war in Iraq and other conflicts in the Middle East.

— Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

S.I. Man Stabs Girlfriend To Death

A Staten Island man was charged with stabbing his girlfriend to death yesterday, after he alerted authorities to the murder by calling his employer and confessing he did something “really bad,” police said. Kevin Howard, 47, allegedly stabbed his girlfriend multiple times around 10:30 a.m., police said. The woman, Jude Carabba, 47, was lying in a pool of blood inside the couple’s home on Hart Boulevard in West New Brighton, when officers arrived. EMS pronounced her dead on the scene. Before being taken into custody, police said Mr. Howard, a construction worker, led officers on a brief car chase but subsequently crashed into a stationary object. No one was injured during the chase.

— Special to the Sun

Student Charged With Posing as DHS Official

A college student from the Bronx has been charged with impersonating a Department of Homeland Security officer during a traffic stop at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, the Queens District Attorney announced yesterday. Prosecutors said Stephan Kishore, 20, was pulled over by Port Authority police after changing lanes without signaling. When asked for identification, the York College student showed the officer an Immigration Customs Enforcement identification card, and said he was on duty. Prosecutors said the officer realized it was a fake after noticing a label that read, “Not For Official Use.” Prosecutors subsequently recovered 32 federal law enforcement identification cards, in addition to two stun guns, two BB guns, and two starter guns from Mr. Kishore’s apartment on Croes Avenue. If convicted, prosecutors said he faces up to seven years in prison.

— Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

Liquor Wholesalers To Pay Fines

The state’s eight largest wine and liquor wholesalers will pay $1.6 million and adopt a series of reforms to resolve Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s investigation of illegal marketing practices in the industry, according to an agreement announced yesterday. The deal is meant to stop wholesalers from favoring select retailers with gifts and discounts not available to thousands of smaller stores, bars and restaurants. Mr. Spitzer said consumers may see lower prices with a return to fair competition. The investigation by Mr. Spitzer’s office and the State Liquor Authority revealed an array of practices intended to circumvent the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Law, including payments of cash, gift cards, trips and golf clubs to favored retail clients. To avoid regulatory scrutiny, the wholesalers issued sham credits that hid illegal discounts and set up relative-run advertising companies to pick up the tab for retailer print and electronic ads, authorities said. Violators could lose their licenses. “We think this will drive prices down because competition ultimately drives prices down,” Spitzer said. City wholesalers who entered into the settlement are: Charmer Industries, Inc. of Astoria and LLC Peerless Importers Inc. of Brooklyn.

— Associated Press

NATIONWIDE

Giuliani Appears At Security Briefing

NORFOLK, Va. — Mayor Giuliani joined Senator Allen yesterday for a private briefing on security at the Port of Virginia. Both men said they liked what they heard but that ports need more federal support. Ed Merkle, director of security for the Virginia Port Security, said he gave the men an overview of the port and also discussed some “sensitive” information regarding port and cargo security. Mr. Giuliani said he was very encouraged by the briefing: “It seems to me they are doing everything they can to make it as secure as possible.” He also said he was heartened to see Allen emphasize port security, which hasn’t gotten as much attention as air security since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Mr. Giuliani said he supports Allen for re-election because the senator “understands what’s at stake in the war against terrorism, the danger we’re in.”

— Associated Press