The State - News from Sept. 18, 1987

The former manager of a Church’s Fried Chicken restaurant in Rialto was awarded $120,000 in damages by the state Fair Employment and Housing Commission, which ruled in San Francisco that he was fired from his job because he is black. The damage award to John Clarence Jackson Jr. is one of the largest in the history of the commission and will grow considerably higher with additional back pay and interest, according to Diane Tan, the state lawyer who prosecuted the case. She said the ruling was also significant because the commission declared a tougher standard for enforcing state civil rights laws than federal courts have followed in some cases. The commission said California law is violated if race, sex or any other improper reason played any role in the action, even if the employer also had legitimate reasons for acting.