U.S. judge drops part of Chicago race-bias case against DaimlerChrysler

A federal judge has dismissed claims by one of six plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing DaimlerChrysler financing arm of discriminating against Black car-buyers in the Chicago area. DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC in Farmington Hills, which does business as Chrysler Financial and Mercedes-Benz Credit, had asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to dismiss all of the charges.  But U.S. District Judge Mark Filip ruled recently that the case, which seeks class-action status, could proceed with five of the six plaintiffs, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday. "We're very encouraged to win five out of six," said Chris O'Hara, an attorney for the plaintiffs. DaimlerChrysler spokesman James Ryan said, "We're certainly pleased one plaintiff has been dismissed." Former Chicago-area dealer Gerald Gorman and some of his minority customers filed separate lawsuits against DaimlerChrysler in February 2003. The suits alleged that Chicago-area DaimlerChrysler executives would not give loans or fair interest rates to customers at Gorman's dealerships because they were located in neighborhoods with many minorities and that the executives explained their reasons with racist language. In depositions, DaimlerChrysler Services employees testified that the company's longtime former Chicago zone manager regularly used racist language in the office and asked the race of a loan applicant at least once. [more]