Time running out for settlement in minority hiring lawsuit (UPDATE)

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The city of Milwaukee, two minority-based chambers of commerce and others have until April 1 to settle a minority contracting lawsuit on their own before a judge imposes mediation.

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin sued the city in May over what it claimed was an unfair shift in the city’s minority contracting practices.

The American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin joined the suit last year, and both chambers allege the new requirements are unconstitutional.

The shift came when Milwaukee’s ordinance 370 took effect Jan. 1, 2012, which created race-based and gender-based requirements for some of the 25 percent of construction dollars traditionally set aside for any minority-owned business.

The city based the ordinance change on a disparity study commissioned from Jacksonville, Fla.-based D. Wilson Consulting Group LLC, which found that Hispanic-owned and American Indian-owned construction businesses didn’t need as much as a boost as businesses owned by blacks, women or Asian Americans.

Of the 25 percent set aside for minority-owned businesses, now 5.57 percent is for companies owned by blacks, 0.07 percent for companies owned by Asians and 7.31 percent for companies owned by women.

The parties began settlement talks and asked U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in January to delay the case until March 1. They weren’t able to reach an agreement but have asked the judge for another month to continue talks.

That request, which Adelman granted March 7, includes a stipulation that the parties be ordered to mediation if they still can’t reach an agreement by April 1.

D. Wilson and a Connecticut-based insurance company are also named in the suit.