May 14, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Community Service Society, one of New York’s oldest social-service groups, has been charged with racial bias and wrongly firing a top official who complained about the organization’s leadership.
Walter L. Fields, who served as publisher of the charity’s magazine, City Limits, until he was asked to leave this month, says he filed a claim with New York’s Equal Employment Opportunity agency that said the leadership of Community Service Society created an environment that was hostile to minorities and fired him after he registered an earlier complaint with the employment agency.
David R. Jones, president of Community Service Society, says Mr. Field was not let go because of his race. In an interview, Mr. Jones, who, like Mr. Fields, is black, said Mr. Fields was fired because he continually tried to get involved in running the organization in a way not appropriate to his position.
Magazine’s Purchase
Community Service Society, a 160-year-old social-service and research group, acquired City Limits this year from a New York think tank. (See this Chronicle article on the acquisition.)
Mr. Fields, the nonprofit group’s vice president for government relations and public affairs and an employee since 2005, was appointed publisher. Mr. Fields said he took issue with the way his transition to City Limits was handled, but he would not comment on the specifics.
Mr. Fields says the Equal Employment Opportunity agency has opened an investigation into Community Service Society. Mr. Jones says he has not received notification from the agency. The employment agency does not comment on claims that have been filed.
