THE C4C FEDERAL EX CHANGE The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C) Volume 5, Number 1 (Spring 2018) ISSN 2375-7086 (Online)
HIGHLIGHTS Women Whistleblowers Stand For Truth
Women Whistleblowers Stand For Truth
The EEOC: Adjudicating Federal Sector Hearings and Appeals Agriculture Employee Wins Bias Case PBS NewsHour: Rape and Reprisal in the U.S. Forest Service TRUTH BE TOLD: Whistleblowers, Journalists & Democracy Default Judgment: EEOC Orders Over 17 Years of Backpay No FEAR Spotlight –Veterans Affairs
DO YOU KNOW . . . About the EEOC’s Complaint Hearing and Appeal Delays? The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) holds hearings on discrimination complaints filed by federal employees and applicants. The enforcement agency also adjudicates appeals of decisions on such claims. According to latest statistics published on the EEOC’s website, the “average” processing time for hearing closures reached 419 days in FY 2014. With regard to appeals, the EEOC reported in its Fiscal Year 2017 Performance and Accountability Report it had a significant backlog of “appeal” cases that were more than 500 days old. C4C Federal Exchange Newsletter – SPRING 2018
In celebration of women’s history month, the Essential Women’s Movement for African American Women held its first “Annual Black Women’s Shero Summit.” The Summit was held on March 8, 2018. It featured five women who selflessly risked it all to do what was right. Recognized during the event and pictured above from left to right were Cathy Harris, Arthuretta Holmes-Martin, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Tanya Ward Jordan and Marcel Reid. The brave women spoke about abuses within the U.S. Customs Service, Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Commerce, and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). They also shared personal accounts of how workplace reprisal harmed their physical, financial and mental well-being. Cathy Harris, a former Senior Customs Inspector, disclosed to the media the U.S. Customs Service’s practice of racially Page 1
targeting airline passengers. In her book, Flying While Black: A Whistleblower’s Story, Ms. Harris describes how federal officials stopped, frisked, detained, racially humiliated, body-cavity-searched, and forced African-Americans to take laxatives and to submit to bowel-monitoring. Arthuretta Holmes-Martin blew the whistle on federal contract corruption at the Internal Revenue Service. After a twenty-five year career in the federal government, she launched a small business. The business, Words and Melodies, provides audiences the experience of learning and healing through the powerful tool of storytelling. Ms. HolmesMartin serves as the President of the National Capitol Area Black Storytellers Association. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a former Senior Policy Analyst for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), blew the whistle on the agency’s failure to act after she reported how a United States mining company harmed the health of South Africa people while it exhumed the African country’s vanadium. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, is author of No Fear: A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA. Tanya Ward Jordan, President and Founder of The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C), blew the whistle on widespread racism within the Commerce Department and on the cabinet level department’s subjective pay for performance system that disproportionately harmed the economic well-being of African American employees. Ms. Ward Jordan is the author of the soon-to-be released self-help book entitled 17 Steps: A Federal Employee's Guide For Tackling Workplace Discrimination. Marcel Reid is a former Chair with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn). While in this capacity, she blew the whistle on theft, mismanagement and corruption within the
C4C Federal Exchange Newsletter – SPRING 2018
community-based
organization that advocated for low and moderate-income families. To learn more about the disclosures made by these courageous women, visit link of the “First Annual Virtual Black Women’s Shero Summit” at https://fccdl.in/QiF9Z60VcA
The EEOC: Adjudicating Federal Sector Hearings and Appeals In fiscal year 2017, the EEOC received 8,012 requests for hearings on federal sector complaints and secured over $72.7 million in relief for federal employees and applicants who requested hearings. In addition, the EEOC received 3,831 federal sector appeals. In its Fiscal Year 2017, Performance and Accountability Report the EEOC reported to Congress that it focused on “resolving the oldest appeals. and those that vindicate employees’ legal rights and/or preserve their access to the EEO complaint process.” Note, the EEOC issued only 68 findings of discrimination in fiscal year 2017.
Agriculture Employee Wins Bias Case
It took Denise A. Banks almost two decades, however, the African-American female recently celebrated a victory in her employment complaint against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Ms. Banks case began in January 2000 when she Page 2
was demoted from her Senior Executive Service (SES) position as deputy director of employment in USDA’s Office of Civil Rights to grade GS-15. The department claimed that her performance was unsatisfactory during her probationary period. Banks, however, charged racial and sexual discrimination. She obtained a jury trial. Although the jury did not accept the racial discrimination charge, it did find that USDA removed Banks from her SES position because of intentional discrimination based on her sex. Read more about: Denise A. Banks v Sonny Purdue, Secretary of Agriculture [Case No. 07-cv01807 ] at https://www.courtlistener.com/pdf/2018/02 /22/banks_v._conner.pdf DEFAULT JUDGEMENT: EEOC ORDERS Over 17 YEARS OF BACK PAY Amina W., V. Rick Perry In a 1998 case involving a non-selection, an employee filed an EEO charge claiming she was being harassed because of her race, national origin, color, disability, age, and prior EEO activity. After the agency drag the case out for years, in November 2015, the EEOC imposed a default judgment on the agency for failing to cooperate in the appeal. Amina W., V. Rick Perry, Secretary, Department of Energy, Appeal No. 0120113823. To view case visit link at https://www.eeoc.gov/decisions/0120113823 .txt
PBS NewsHour: Rape and Reprisal in the U.S. Forest Service In an exclusive PBS NewsHour investigation, thirty-four women in thirteen states tell their stories of rape, harassment, gender discrimination and the retaliation that followed after they reported abuse in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. See coverage on YouTube link entitled: Rape, Harassment and Retaliation in the U.S. Forest Service at https://tinyurl.com/y786hpbd C4C Federal Exchange Newsletter – SPRING 2018
TRUTH BE TOLD: Whistleblowers, Journalists & Democracy
Panelists speak before audience at UDC David A. Clarke School of Law on March 14, 2018.
Sunshine Week was established in March 2005. The American Society of News Editors spearheaded the national initiative to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy. In celebration of Sunshine Week, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) teamed up with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) to tell the stories of Brandon Coleman (Veteran Affairs’ whistleblower,) and Larry Criscione (Nuclear Regulatory Commission whistleblower). In addition, two journalists, Joe Davidson of the Washington Post and Zack Kopplin, freelance investigative reporter, were among the panelists. The journalists discussed how they have worked with brave sources to report the truth and how they verify their information while minimizing their risk of retaliation. The event was moderated by Dana Gold, GAP’s Director of Education and Danielle McLean, SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee Chair. To learn more about GAP’s TRUTH BE TOLD project visit https://www.whistleblower.org
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IN THE NEWS
“Let's be honest -- when your boss gets mad at you and puts you on a Performance Improvement Plan, the last thing on his or her mind is improving your performance”--Liz Ryan “Forbes Magazine. Read more https://www.forbes.com In FY 2017, the EEOC completed the final program evaluation report of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) EEO program. The EEOC report addressed compliance issues with HHS’ complaint process and reasonable accommodation program for individuals with disabilities. HHS provided its first Corrective Action Plan in the fourth quarter of FY 2017. Shine the Light Campaign on Federal Racism. Will you help with The Coalition For Change, Inc.'s "Media Campaign" to shine light on abuses inside the federal government? C4C to do Press Release to expose the shortcoming of the EEOC.. Click HERE.
GOT NEWS? Contact us at C4C@coalition4change.org Contributing Editor, Tanya Ward Jordan
C4C Federal Exchange Newsletter – SPRING 2018
No FEAR Spotlight: Department of Veterans Affairs
The Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2002 requires agencies to post statistical data about it equal employment opportunity complaints. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the second largest federal agency. According to the Office of Personnel Management, in September 2017, the VA’s workforce totaled 377,109. VA manages and administers aid to veterans and their family members. According to its’ No FEAR data, the VA reported the following: Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Totals Number of Complaints Filed: 2571 Complaints Dismissed by Agency: 424 Number of Discrimination Findings: 36 Of the 2, 571 complaints filed in FY 2017, race-based complaints totaled 982.
The C4C Federal Exchange Newsletter is a quarterly publication of The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C). The internet publication, which shares information on race discrimination and retaliation in the federal sector, obtained its ISSN 2375-7086 from the U.S. Library of Congress in October 2014. Page 4