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GREENSBORO — A federal civil rights office notified several black police officers Thursday that it had found evidence the city of Greensboro had discriminated against them at work, according to a lawyer representing the officers.

Attorney Ken Free said 32 clients filed complaints last year with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for alleged unfair treatment and discipline by former Police Chief David Wray.

On Thursday, Free said, at least a half-dozen officers received letters informing them that the EEOC had found evidence of employment discrimination.

"They feel they were vindicated," Free said of his clients' reaction to the letters. "This is a huge victory."

City Manager Mitchell Johnson declined to comment about the letters Thursday night.

Ken Keller, a labor attorney for Wray, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Free said it was his understanding that the city planned to appeal the EEOC ruling to federal court, where the case would be heard by an administrative law judge.

It is unknown what dollar amount, if any, the city could end up paying the officers. Each officer's case will be evaluated on an individual basis. It was unclear Thursday whether the EEOC had ruled in favor of all the police officers who filed complaints or just some of them.

The EEOC could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Much of what is known about the officers' complaints against Wray comes from two reports commissioned by the city in late 2005. A Raleigh consulting group determined Wray ordered repeated investigations of Lt. James Hinson, who is black, and later instructed a deputy chief to "secure" a book with photos of 19 black officers, which the deputy hid in the trunk of his vehicle.

In a separate report, two assistant city attorneys documented instances where black officers appear to have been treated more harshly than white officers accused of breaking the same department policies.

Wray resigned under pressure in January 2006 after the city manager confronted him with the report findings.

Reaction from Greensboro City Council members was mixed late Thursday. Many said they expected the ruling but didn't necessarily think it was the correct one.

"To me it's almost a good news/bad news type thing," Councilwoman Sandy Carmany said. "The ruling does seem to indicate that it wasn't the witch hunt that some people are portraying it as. The city staff was not out in left field taking the actions they took.

"On the flip side, this could mean for taxpayers that quite a bit of money will have to be paid out to settle this matter," she said.

Carmany said she thinks the city should explore an appeal — not because there was no discrimination but because the city acted promptly to reinstate officers who had been suspended and initiate an investigation into discrimination under Wray.

Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson said she didn't yet have enough information about the EEOC letters to know whether the city should appeal, but she said she knows where the city should put its attention now.

"From all we've been exposed to, I can't say the decision shocked me," she said. "Right now, I would say we have a lot of work cut out for us to make sure that the right thing is done by these officers, and that things like this don't happen again."

Councilman Tom Phillips said he assumed the matter would go to an appeal.

Councilman Mike Barber said an appeal might be appropriate.

"As an attorney I'm not surprised by the result, but I think it was the wrong one," he said. "I think that as soon as this matter was brought to the city, the city reacted and there was a remedy."

As a council member, Barber said, he just wants closure on the matter.

"I know our 600 uniformed police officers would like closure as well," he said. "This alleged behavior, the controversy and the distraction is not indicative of our police department or our city."

Contact Eric J.S. Townsend at 373-7008 or etownsend@news-record.com

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or jkillian@news-record.com