USDA to pay farmer $6.6 million in discrimination suit

WASHINGTON -- The Agriculture Department will pay a black farmer $6.6 million for discriminating against him, officials said Friday.

Department officials had been considering for a month whether to appeal a judge's decision which ordered the agency to pay Will Sylvester Warren, of Southampton County, Va., for 17 years of discrimination.

Alisa Harrison, a department spokeswoman, confirmed the agency will pay Warren the large sum, but added that officials are reviewing other aspects of Judge Constance T. O'Bryant's decision to ensure it "does not violate any of the laws under USDA authority."

Harrison declined to elaborate.

Warren did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. However, the 77-year-old farmer felt strongly about his case and his trade. Records show he told a federal investigator in 1997: "I will die to save my farm."

Black farmer groups said the agency's decision to pay Warren gives them hope that the department -- along with the judges, adjudicators and arbitrators who hear their cases -- will be more sympathetic.

"I think this opens up the door to give all of those people a fair trial," said John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers Association.

Thousands of black farmers across the country alleged in a class action lawsuit, Pigford vs. Glickman, that they routinely were denied loans because of their race. As part of a settlement for the 1997 court case, the department agreed to allow farmers to seek a $50,000 settlement in cases where the government determined discrimination happened. So far, it has paid $634 million in 12,690 cases but denied 8,540 cases.

Warren opted out and sought a judgment.

Most black farmers are upset with the results of the 1997 agreement, arguing the agency didn't discipline the loan agents blamed for discrimination and unfairly rejected thousands of cases. Tom Burrell, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalist Association, said he wants the Bush administration to throw out the settlement and start anew.

Citing the judgment in the Warren case, he said: "If that's not a basis for someone to revisit this decision of this lawsuit called Pigford, I don't know what is."

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On the Net:

USDA's Office of Civil Rights: www.usda.gov/da/cr.html