CLEVELAND — State Auditor Jim Petro has appealed an Ohio Civil Rights Commission finding that he failed to promote an auditor and other black employees in his agency's Dayton office.

        A finding by commission staff, released in February, upheld auditor Annette P. Brown's complaint that she was overlooked for a promotion last year because she is black. Ms. Brown said she had years more experience than the two white candidates who were advanced, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday.

        The investigation said blacks were underrepresented in Dayton in assistant auditor positions such as Ms. Brown's. Within the 77-employee office, promotions among auditors took an average of 3.5 years for whites and 8.2 years for blacks, according to commission calculations.

        A spokeswoman for Mr. Petro's 950-employee agency point to several blacks in the highest levels of the auditor's office as evidence that Mr. Petro does not discriminate.

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