TEMPE, AZ (By Jahna Berry, Arizona Republic) June 5, 2005 - In a Phoenix courtroom, Tempe's diversity efforts are on trial.

Nine Latino current and former city workers say that Tempe's Public Works Department was a hostile place where they were subjected to racial slurs, passed over for promotions and disciplined more harshly than their Anglo co-workers.

The stakes are high for the city. The 6-year-old racial discrimination scandal led to multiple investigations, including ones by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

The uproar helped topple former City Manager Gary Brown, triggered an overhaul of the Public Works Department and led to the birth of the city's diversity office.

Tempe's lawyers have stressed that the city shake-up corrected management problems and there was no discrimination.

The trial that began May 24 is offering the jury a revealing glimpse into Tempe's internal politics. The plaintiffs' witnesses testified about the rough-and-tumble atmosphere in Public Works. Until the city changed its policies, some employees toted guns to work and some supervisors were openly hostile to minorities, witnesses testified.

Tempe's lawyers, on the other hand, hinted at behind-the-scenes power plays. The Tempe Employees Council has evolved into an unofficial "union" that the city manager meets with regularly, Assistant City Attorney Rosemary Rosales said during her opening statement.

During a recent court hearing, retired city worker Peter DeMott testified that he talked to former Councilman Dennis Cahill about the Public Works problems.

"He said that he was sure that there was discrimination in the workplace and has been for a long time. But knowing it and proving it were two different things," DeMott said.

During the trial, two pictures of the plaintiffs have emerged.

The plaintiffs' lawyer argued that his clients were vulnerable workers who held humble jobs: driving garbage trucks and street sweepers, and patching Tempe roads.

"They deserved respect," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Stephen Montoya. "They didn't get it."

The city's attorneys, however, argue that the plaintiffs were politically savvy, well-paid workers. The plaintiffs complained about racial discrimination while they mounted a campaign to overturn the city's "no U-turn" policy. The policy riled the mostly Hispanic crew of street sweeper drivers, Rosales said.

The plaintiffs "didn't want to be told how to do their jobs," Rosales said.

Six of the nine plaintiffs will testify this week: street sweeper drivers Manuel Navarro, Edward Fernandez and Pedro Amaya; street maintenance worker Jose Cruz Corrales; and retired Public Works employees Armando Gonzales and Randy Bologna.

After the plaintiffs' rest, the city will begin to call its witnesses. The trial, which is before U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver, resumes Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to last two more weeks, attorneys say.