Federal Departments Should Thank EPA 12-25-11
The EPA caused the passage of the No FEAR Act of 2002 by Congress because they just could not seem to get their act together. Thanks to EPA, all Federal agencies are now required to report publicly on whistleblowing and discrimination cases, along with training their entire workforce annually. Carol Browner, the former EPA Administrator, allowed Title VI complaints to languish under her leadership, testified before Congress on the failures to process, and again failed to take appropriate action when her management retaliated against Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo for whistle blowing and discriminating against her as an African American female. After the debacle of a jury trial, the EPA management was found to have discriminated against Dr. Coleman-Adebayo and she was awarded $600,000 in compensatory damages (reduced by law to $300,000). The costs associated with all of this were enormous, along with the political ramifications, so EPA took the normal course of action. A consultant firm was hired using more taxpayer money to review the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and prepare a lengthy report, in spite of the fact that management outside the OCR were the discriminating officials and the leadership was at fault. However, going after the employees in civil rights is a standard practice at EPA, while the true villians remain unscathed.
A report prepared by Holland & Knight found that the OCR was dysfunctional and needed serious corrective action. In all their wisdom that was evident up to that time, EPA then selected an employee trained as a contracting officer to be the new Director of OCR, Karen Higginbotham, after moving the former Director, Anne Goode, out under a management-initiated reassignment, where she remained for years until her retirement. All program offices were also required to prepare and submit "Diversity Plans" as a means of fixing the broken civil rights system and messy situation for the administration. These plans often ran counter to and interfered with the mandatory Affirmative Employment Program Plans (now MD-715 Reports) required by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and negotiated union agreements, but what was one more mess in an agency that just compounded their problems because they were not using their own money - $600,000 here, $350,000 there - all taxpayer money squandered because of bad leadership and management.
A report prepared by Holland & Knight found that the OCR was dysfunctional and needed serious corrective action. In all their wisdom that was evident up to that time, EPA then selected an employee trained as a contracting officer to be the new Director of OCR, Karen Higginbotham, after moving the former Director, Anne Goode, out under a management-initiated reassignment, where she remained for years until her retirement. All program offices were also required to prepare and submit "Diversity Plans" as a means of fixing the broken civil rights system and messy situation for the administration. These plans often ran counter to and interfered with the mandatory Affirmative Employment Program Plans (now MD-715 Reports) required by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and negotiated union agreements, but what was one more mess in an agency that just compounded their problems because they were not using their own money - $600,000 here, $350,000 there - all taxpayer money squandered because of bad leadership and management.
Prohibitied Personnel Practices Abound
The new "contracting officer" Director of Civil Rights was selected and reigned from 2001 to 2010, during which she was given or hired numerous non-civil rights employees, underachievers, slackers, sleepers, no shows and nonperformers. Over the course of a decade she managed to fill the office with: 1. A GS-15 (currently $123,758 to $155,500) manager called "Half Day" because he rarely remained in the office after lunch, called in via telephone for meetings, and showed up for special programs; 2. A GS-15 employee who was called "No Show" because he spent two years studying for and earning his Doctorate of Divinity instead of doing civil rights work, after being promoted as a lawyer from a GS-14 to a GS-15; 3. An employee who openly slept on the job almost daily after bragging that he was the boss' spy having worked for her in a previous office; 4. A GS-15 manager playing computer games with the bells ringing loudly and annoyingly enough to be heard by other employees; 5. An administrative employee responsible for time and attendance of the entire staff came to work late every day, often up to 11:00 am, shopped in the evenings at Macy's and other retailers on duty time, returned with her bags, shut down her office and went home only to return late the next day; 6. The boss' former babysitter for her daughters was transferred from another office, failed to perform in one area, then was promoted in a specially-created upward mobility position; and 7. A GS-15 manager spent hours talking with the boss, socialized with her, arrived late in the office, and failed to carry out the work or effectively supervisor the employees. These examples were only a tip of the iceberg that created a chilling effect on the EPA civil rights program and the small number of professional civil rights employees. The taxpayers' who want government cut are referring to leaders and employees like this, not the hardworking public servants.
Let's Not Let the Facts Get in Our Way
I came to EPA Office of Civil Rights in 2001 with the dream that by working with the management team, as a well-known civil rights professional and subject matter expert/ with a history of effective management and supervision, the small EPA program would eventually become a model emulated by other agencies. After working with four major executive Departments, with every conceivable award given to me and my staff for our work, I felt confident that my expertise would be appreciated and rewarded. Instead, the dream turned into a nightmare and I moved through stages of confusion, sadness, disbelief, frustration, stress, illness, protectiveness, more sadness and finally anger. I wrote letters to whomever would listen, but there was no one there, including the administrator's and Inspector General's offices. The pit bulls were out and ready to eat me alive because I objected to violations of regulations and the stench in the office caused by continuous discrimination, nepotism, favoritism, all the other "isms," and a hostile work environment.
Desperate Times Cause Desperate Measures
The lying, gossiping, and treachery hit an all time high so that we were all desperate for some relief, particularly my team of employees. Working for CEOs in industry, General Officers in the military as a civilian, and senior officials throughout the government, I just continued to do the work, write policy, develop plans and programs and hire, supervise and train my 8 staff members, who were highly educated and dedicated to outstanding performance. Some of the programs we planned and implemented became the largest attended by EPA employees and those from other agencies. The policies and plans we developed were in compliance and excellent. But, our nerves were frayed because a day never went by that some uncalled criticism was not unleashed. The employees began to complain, I fell twice, spraining my ankle from one such fall, and we all suffered from severe stress symptoms. There were little skirmishes daily with false accusations or downright lying, we were accused of excessive drinking, gossiping about senior management, violating this or that and an inability to do the work (see the Deloitte Report). It was all just unmitigated nonsense. I was belittled in staff meetings, professionally and personally attacked, and threatened by a yelling and screaming angry deputy, who had previous anger management problems. When my mother was dying of lung cancer, the Director complained that I was out of the office, when I asked to work off-site since I was unable to leave my mother's side, she refused the request stating that she could not trust that I would be honorable and keep track of the time I spent working. On one occasion she invited only black female managers to a luncheon and left me out for no reason except racism. On another occasion, the deputy accused me of lying until we confronted the Director and she admitted that it was not me, but she had lied. She requested I counsel the National Asian Program Manager for drinking at a conference because she was told that she did so by a Regional EEO Officer, but again after being confronted, she admitted that she lied about that officer also. This went on day in and day out, while she ran the office as if it were a kindergarten or very bad high school. It was embarrassing, unprofessional, and unproductive.
Duck Down - I'm Going After that Little White Woman
Then one of my fairly new employees was told by the Director that he needed to "duck down because I am going after your supervisor (me)," and another was told that "this is EPA and we will teach that 'little white woman' to stand in line." When I attempted to let senior management in the administrator's office know about these threats and some of the other serious problems, I was rebuffed and sent to meet with the culprit's mentor, Ray Spears, the entrenched Deputy Chief of Staff. He took notes and smiled. After that meeting, a major attack was planned using an anonymous call and note from an outside person stating that I was violating regulations. This was just what they needed to use against me. The anonymous complaint was sent to the Criminal Division, but thankfully they returned it stating there was nothing criminal involved. Since this happened, I learned that EPA went after a witness in the Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo complaint, who they later accused of criminal matters and sent him to jail. I am of the opinion he should receive a pardon and any other employees sent to jail using systems that were meant to protect employees.
The EPA IG conducted a one-year intensive and comprehensive investigation against me, without my knowledge, reviewing over 20,000 emails, numerous documents, and interviewing four of my neighbors at my home. After I was told of this and exonerated, I asked for a copy of the anonymous note and report under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but had to wait for years to receive it - another government ploy. When I finally received it, I noted that the second page of the Director's interview was missing. After much effort on my part, I received the missing second page that contained a false, libelous and slanderous statement that she saw me at "a" luncheon drink too much, she and her Deputy believed I had a drinking problem, she implied that I drank my lunch and returned to write horrible emails to her, and I violated time and attendance regulations. I finally realized why I, as a highly respected civil rights expert, remained in the back of the room, isolated from my peers and not asked for advice from senior officials for the first time in my career. The accuser was the Director of Civil Rights, which made this even more unbelieveable and treacherous. I was desperate and so were my staff members, so I did what I could to protect us, but the nightmare continued.
The EPA IG conducted a one-year intensive and comprehensive investigation against me, without my knowledge, reviewing over 20,000 emails, numerous documents, and interviewing four of my neighbors at my home. After I was told of this and exonerated, I asked for a copy of the anonymous note and report under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but had to wait for years to receive it - another government ploy. When I finally received it, I noted that the second page of the Director's interview was missing. After much effort on my part, I received the missing second page that contained a false, libelous and slanderous statement that she saw me at "a" luncheon drink too much, she and her Deputy believed I had a drinking problem, she implied that I drank my lunch and returned to write horrible emails to her, and I violated time and attendance regulations. I finally realized why I, as a highly respected civil rights expert, remained in the back of the room, isolated from my peers and not asked for advice from senior officials for the first time in my career. The accuser was the Director of Civil Rights, which made this even more unbelieveable and treacherous. I was desperate and so were my staff members, so I did what I could to protect us, but the nightmare continued.
Nightmares during the Day
When the year-long IG investigation did not allow them to do me in, a new strategy was developed. Employees from the field, over 200 assigned to assist my office 20% of their time on a collateral-duty basis, were solicited to attack me and my staff. Members of the Black, Women, Hispanic, Asian, Disability, and finally the Gay and Lesbian programs were used. The Director withheld documents, left us out of major meetings, and simply engaged in undercover warfare using her mentor and other employees.
EPA OCR generally failed to follow regulations, so that I found it almost impossible to do my job of advising, training and educating the workforce. One example was the violation of freely and widely distributing Race, National Origin (RNO) data, voluntarily collected from applicants and employees with the assurance that it would not be used except in gross statistics. My office maintained the EEO data base and I placed restrictions on distribution in accordance with regulations so that management could not use it to discriminate against employees or violate their privacy. Someone sent me a "cheat sheet" with RNO data kept by the Deputy Chief of Staff that he used to keep track of who was being hired in the Administrator's office, one of the least diverse offices in the agency. The Director said he had complained to her on one occasion and asked why she was hiring Whites in the OCR. Settlement agreements were written poorly and did not contain all the rights of employees, so I wrote a settlement agreement policy and procedures tailoring it to EPA that I had previously written for and distributed throughout the U.S. Treasury with 160,000 employees at the time. The Director and Steve Pressman in the EPA legal office refused to distribute it throughout the 17,000-employee EPA. I also objected to an EPA Strategic Recruitment Plan for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) employees, not because of homophobia, but because the plan called for recruitment of GLBT employees at colleges and universities with high numbers of GLBT students. The legal office "opined" that "recruitment is not hiring," and I opined that an agency could not recruit unless they planned to hire and a person's sexual orientation (homosexual or heterosexual) had no place in the hiring process. The "best qualified" is based on the work, not an individual's sexual orientation. The plan was submitted, around OCR and my office, to the EPA Human Resources Council. The same individual who subsquently went after me with the Director wrote the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Recruitment Plan and falsely accused me of being impolite and aggressive on a teleconference that was "set up" by the Director. This was all the pit bulls needed to advance under the cover of darkness and it was downhill for me and my staff from there.
EPA OCR generally failed to follow regulations, so that I found it almost impossible to do my job of advising, training and educating the workforce. One example was the violation of freely and widely distributing Race, National Origin (RNO) data, voluntarily collected from applicants and employees with the assurance that it would not be used except in gross statistics. My office maintained the EEO data base and I placed restrictions on distribution in accordance with regulations so that management could not use it to discriminate against employees or violate their privacy. Someone sent me a "cheat sheet" with RNO data kept by the Deputy Chief of Staff that he used to keep track of who was being hired in the Administrator's office, one of the least diverse offices in the agency. The Director said he had complained to her on one occasion and asked why she was hiring Whites in the OCR. Settlement agreements were written poorly and did not contain all the rights of employees, so I wrote a settlement agreement policy and procedures tailoring it to EPA that I had previously written for and distributed throughout the U.S. Treasury with 160,000 employees at the time. The Director and Steve Pressman in the EPA legal office refused to distribute it throughout the 17,000-employee EPA. I also objected to an EPA Strategic Recruitment Plan for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) employees, not because of homophobia, but because the plan called for recruitment of GLBT employees at colleges and universities with high numbers of GLBT students. The legal office "opined" that "recruitment is not hiring," and I opined that an agency could not recruit unless they planned to hire and a person's sexual orientation (homosexual or heterosexual) had no place in the hiring process. The "best qualified" is based on the work, not an individual's sexual orientation. The plan was submitted, around OCR and my office, to the EPA Human Resources Council. The same individual who subsquently went after me with the Director wrote the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Recruitment Plan and falsely accused me of being impolite and aggressive on a teleconference that was "set up" by the Director. This was all the pit bulls needed to advance under the cover of darkness and it was downhill for me and my staff from there.
Environmental Cesspool
I don't know about anyone else, but I vehemently dislike liars, cheaters, lazy, ignorant and evil people. They take up good space and create havoc in the world and other people's lives. My family are all hard working Americans, who pay their debts and taxes, and are basically good, kind and generous people. I have trained austistic children, played in a band at orphanages, trained a young boy to walk, designed and published women's newsletters and -papers, basically spending my life in the service of others. Civil rights became my career choice after spending years successfully in industry and entering the Federal service as a senior professional. I had never experienced the cesspool environment I found myself in at EPA and it goes without saying that if you roll around in a cesspool long enough, you are bound to get "some" of "it" on you. I was knee-deep in it.
When the Obama administration came into office, I wrote and advised that he needed to put a jobs program into place immediately and return Americans to work. Over the years, I learned that once the unemployment rate hit above 6%, the political ramifications from the white male community would be tremendous, which would be extremely bad for his administration. I wrote several times hoping to get through and even mentioned that I had experience in starting up such a program and would be glad to provide my expertise and assistance. The health care reform started by the Clintons needed to come after putting Americans back to work and fixing some of our infrastructure problems. When Lisa Jackson came into office, I was again thrilled and naive. I found Christie Whitman to be an outstanding EPA Administrator and lady, having worked with her previously when she was the Governor of New Jersey. I had written articles about her and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for my newspaper, which was nonpartisan. It takes time to really know what is going on around you, particularly in the Washington, DC political environment where it appears that anything goes. So, while I was writing to support the Obama administration, one of his political appointees, Lisa Jackson, was allowing her minions to do me, my staff and others in.
When the Obama administration came into office, I wrote and advised that he needed to put a jobs program into place immediately and return Americans to work. Over the years, I learned that once the unemployment rate hit above 6%, the political ramifications from the white male community would be tremendous, which would be extremely bad for his administration. I wrote several times hoping to get through and even mentioned that I had experience in starting up such a program and would be glad to provide my expertise and assistance. The health care reform started by the Clintons needed to come after putting Americans back to work and fixing some of our infrastructure problems. When Lisa Jackson came into office, I was again thrilled and naive. I found Christie Whitman to be an outstanding EPA Administrator and lady, having worked with her previously when she was the Governor of New Jersey. I had written articles about her and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for my newspaper, which was nonpartisan. It takes time to really know what is going on around you, particularly in the Washington, DC political environment where it appears that anything goes. So, while I was writing to support the Obama administration, one of his political appointees, Lisa Jackson, was allowing her minions to do me, my staff and others in.
Gossip at the Hair Salon
I was at the beauty parlor one afternoon and two young ladies were talking about the fact that they felt the Obama administration treated women extremely bad and that it was actually better working under the Republican Busch administration. The conversation continued, "At least the Republicans did not abuse the women or mistreat them as they do under the current administration." I was surprised at the time, but then I began to think of how I had never been treated more poorly as a woman or professional than at EPA under this administration, already ccused of talking out two sides of their mouths. In one meeting, my staff and I endured a horrible situation in which the Director falsely accused one female of lying, another of not doing work she had completed, and her Deputy yelling, angry and gritting his teeth, having a temper tantrum in the work place. Two female staff members started crying, a male staff member pulled his seat up to the table and told them that it was unacceptable to treat "a lady" in this manner, and I left the meeting in an attempt to dissipate the anger. On another occasion, an administrative staff member decided to interfere with a discussion I was having with one of my staff members, while she was visiting the office to gossip, called me some names and then later called me a "bitch" as she left our office. She had been place on a detail to work with the Director's colleague, Rafael DeLeon. When I said, "You can't call me that," she responded, "I just did." My complaint to the Director was turned against me as if I had caused an altercation with a junior employee.
My staff and I also experienced what I called "The Case of the First Lady Michele Obama." When we heard that the First Lady was coming to visit EPA for the first time, I offered the support of my office for the occasion to the Administrator's Public Affairs Officer, but even that was twisted by the "twisted sisters." All of the staff I personally hired (consisting of Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, American Indians, Disabled males and females), were allowed on the stage with the First Lady. I was denied the opportunity because the Director decided that she would not allow me to participate. It was as simple as that - and for no other reason than she could. Later, she wrote "they" were worried that I would make a scene, which was totally false and ridiculous. Interestingly enough, my office was responsible for the President's initiation on Council on Women & Girls and I'm sure he did not mean only his wife and daughters. Since that time, EPA moved against me and the National Federal Women's Program Manager was forced to retire rather than endure such a despicable environment. Another woman in the OCR office just walked out into retirement two days early and comments have been made by the new Director, Rafael DeLeon, that show he is insensitive to disabled employees also. The Administrator's Chief of Staff directed a factfinding based on a letter signed by my staff members to their members of Congress.
My staff and I also experienced what I called "The Case of the First Lady Michele Obama." When we heard that the First Lady was coming to visit EPA for the first time, I offered the support of my office for the occasion to the Administrator's Public Affairs Officer, but even that was twisted by the "twisted sisters." All of the staff I personally hired (consisting of Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, American Indians, Disabled males and females), were allowed on the stage with the First Lady. I was denied the opportunity because the Director decided that she would not allow me to participate. It was as simple as that - and for no other reason than she could. Later, she wrote "they" were worried that I would make a scene, which was totally false and ridiculous. Interestingly enough, my office was responsible for the President's initiation on Council on Women & Girls and I'm sure he did not mean only his wife and daughters. Since that time, EPA moved against me and the National Federal Women's Program Manager was forced to retire rather than endure such a despicable environment. Another woman in the OCR office just walked out into retirement two days early and comments have been made by the new Director, Rafael DeLeon, that show he is insensitive to disabled employees also. The Administrator's Chief of Staff directed a factfinding based on a letter signed by my staff members to their members of Congress.
Writing to Members of Congress January 5, 2012
I believe EPA will be thanked again if Congress passes "No Fear Act II" that contains coverage of employees who are retaliated against for writing to their representatives, among other things. Most Federal agencies respond to Congressional inquiries using "pat answers," often drafted by the culprits themselves, and the issue is over as far as the employees and their constituents are concerned. In response to the letter of five staff members to Senator Jim Webb and others, EPA responded in their typical fashion. Diane Thompson, Chief of Staff, directed a fact finding into the allegations contained in the letter. The staff members were required to give statements based on questions posed by an attorney in the Labor-Employee Relations Office. They were threatened with perjury if they failed to answer the questions truthfully, in spite of the lack of official rights or representation. Their statements were drafted based on notes taken and they were asked to sign a Declaration. The declarations contained information stating that the Director created a "hostile work environment," fear and retaliation, prohibited personnel practices, discrimination, favoritism, abuse of power, insensitivity to cultural differences, name-calling, visciousness, misusing authority by approving travel funds for an employee to visit her boyfriend, employees who were called "No Show" and "Half Day" for not coming to work, making statements such as "little white woman better stand in line," and "this is EPA we can whip her into shape," along with "I am going after (your boss), she told me to 'lay low'." One declaration included $500,000 EPA was fined and sanctioned for failing to carry out their responsibilities and process a Title VII complaint.
What was the result of this gut-renching mandatory exposure caused by writing to their Senator and other representatives? One by one, Rafael DeLeon has gone after the employees for exposing his colleague, Karen Higginbotham, and mentor, Ray Spears, along with the agency. He started with a minimum-wage senior female employee by terminating her contract, when she was desperate for a job and some income. He later terminated another minimum-wage senior female's contract, but allowed the "SEE - senior EPA employee" male, who slept at his desk to transfer to another office. Next, he went after the National Federal Women's Program Manager, who also wrote to her representative to no avail, accused her of not carrying out the work, solicited negative comments from the collateral-duty field women against her (all white), took over her responsibilities, treated her disrespectfully and contemptuously, put her on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), violated the personnel regulations by including things outside her performance plan, repeating a minor error and refused to consider her supervisor's Exceptional rating of her, and then asked her where she wanted to go outside OCR. She was forced to take sick leave because her blood pressure soared, and finally, under duress after running out of sick leave, retired. A 41-year public servant was run out of EPA because of the sickness within the agency with nothing to show for all her many years of outstanding public service. But, he was on a mission to "clean house" for the Administrator's office, missed the Asian Manager because she was selected by another Department receiving a promotional opportunity, and continued on his mission as "hatchet man." Eventually, it is expected that all of Mr. DeLeon's many exploits to be uncovered and exposed or as they say, "What goes around will surely come around." Currently, he is in the process of going after an employee with a targeted disability and a pregnant young woman who just had a baby girl. Is there no end to the lack of conscience for what is right, fair and just? As a starting point, Congress needs to dig out the "No Fear Act II" bill in Committee and get some respect from the agencies on behalf of their constituents.
What was the result of this gut-renching mandatory exposure caused by writing to their Senator and other representatives? One by one, Rafael DeLeon has gone after the employees for exposing his colleague, Karen Higginbotham, and mentor, Ray Spears, along with the agency. He started with a minimum-wage senior female employee by terminating her contract, when she was desperate for a job and some income. He later terminated another minimum-wage senior female's contract, but allowed the "SEE - senior EPA employee" male, who slept at his desk to transfer to another office. Next, he went after the National Federal Women's Program Manager, who also wrote to her representative to no avail, accused her of not carrying out the work, solicited negative comments from the collateral-duty field women against her (all white), took over her responsibilities, treated her disrespectfully and contemptuously, put her on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), violated the personnel regulations by including things outside her performance plan, repeating a minor error and refused to consider her supervisor's Exceptional rating of her, and then asked her where she wanted to go outside OCR. She was forced to take sick leave because her blood pressure soared, and finally, under duress after running out of sick leave, retired. A 41-year public servant was run out of EPA because of the sickness within the agency with nothing to show for all her many years of outstanding public service. But, he was on a mission to "clean house" for the Administrator's office, missed the Asian Manager because she was selected by another Department receiving a promotional opportunity, and continued on his mission as "hatchet man." Eventually, it is expected that all of Mr. DeLeon's many exploits to be uncovered and exposed or as they say, "What goes around will surely come around." Currently, he is in the process of going after an employee with a targeted disability and a pregnant young woman who just had a baby girl. Is there no end to the lack of conscience for what is right, fair and just? As a starting point, Congress needs to dig out the "No Fear Act II" bill in Committee and get some respect from the agencies on behalf of their constituents.
Women Biting the Dust in OCR 12-15-11
So much for a non-discrimination policy at EPA under Administrator Lisa Jackson. How many women biting the dust does it take for Administrator Jackson to admit she made a mistake by selecting Rafael DeLeon as the Director of Civil Rights? The man has wrecked havoc within the office, his actions have resulted in women either being pushed out, walking out or retiring, so the office remains in total chaos. The latest article by iWatch News is just another example of the failure of EPA to run an effective civil rights program.
One EPA whistle blower we talked with said, "They violate the laws with impunity at EPA. When they are caught, they simply dig in their heels, use taxpayers' money, and refuse to take corrective action. I believe that there are some good people there overshadowed by a small group who give public service a bad name. These corrupt individuals are allowed to go from a Republican administration to Democratic administration wrecking havoc on those around them. Lisa Jackson should do the right thing, but so far she has just supported the perpetrators. I am not surprised, nor are my colleagues, that there is an EPA Occupy movement marching against the agency. We had hopes that Lisa Jackson would be different, but she is just warming the seat."
Another female OCR employee said that she felt fortunate to have found a new job, "After all the years of abuse I suffered at EPA in OCR, I am so happy to finally get out and find a job where I am treated with respect and dignity. I feel that my contributions as a public servant are valued. Being in a normal place has done wonders for my life, health and well-being. Thankfully, I am no longer under the continuous stress and harassment in the OCR at EPA." Further, she said that, "The place I am in now is a healthier, more professional, and positive." Another former OCR employee, who also asked to remain anonymous, said, "They say that EPA is a great place to work, but I know the truth. It's a place that you are harassed, ridiculed, punished, hated, cheated, chastized, and destroyed by unscrupulous managers, who are allowed to engage in prohibited personnel practices and harass employees because they can get away with it. People are amazed that the very office responsible for civil rights doesn't even follow the laws themselves. I think this is what they really want because the Lisa Jackson put the sneakiest fox of all, Rafael, in the office to make sure that the programs fail."
One EPA whistle blower we talked with said, "They violate the laws with impunity at EPA. When they are caught, they simply dig in their heels, use taxpayers' money, and refuse to take corrective action. I believe that there are some good people there overshadowed by a small group who give public service a bad name. These corrupt individuals are allowed to go from a Republican administration to Democratic administration wrecking havoc on those around them. Lisa Jackson should do the right thing, but so far she has just supported the perpetrators. I am not surprised, nor are my colleagues, that there is an EPA Occupy movement marching against the agency. We had hopes that Lisa Jackson would be different, but she is just warming the seat."
Another female OCR employee said that she felt fortunate to have found a new job, "After all the years of abuse I suffered at EPA in OCR, I am so happy to finally get out and find a job where I am treated with respect and dignity. I feel that my contributions as a public servant are valued. Being in a normal place has done wonders for my life, health and well-being. Thankfully, I am no longer under the continuous stress and harassment in the OCR at EPA." Further, she said that, "The place I am in now is a healthier, more professional, and positive." Another former OCR employee, who also asked to remain anonymous, said, "They say that EPA is a great place to work, but I know the truth. It's a place that you are harassed, ridiculed, punished, hated, cheated, chastized, and destroyed by unscrupulous managers, who are allowed to engage in prohibited personnel practices and harass employees because they can get away with it. People are amazed that the very office responsible for civil rights doesn't even follow the laws themselves. I think this is what they really want because the Lisa Jackson put the sneakiest fox of all, Rafael, in the office to make sure that the programs fail."
A POLLUTED ENVIRONMENT AT EPA 12-12-11
What does it take to know that you made a mistake and correct it? Evidently Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and her management minions don’t know the answer to that question. There must have been an agreement made that she would be willing to jeopardize her administration to support one employee, Rafael DeLeon, no matter what the consequences.
In 2005, DeLeon was not only unsuccessful as Acting Director of the EPA Office of Civil Rights, but left the office with complaints lodged against him by women subordinates. He was then allowed to build an organization for himself and other attorneys to handle the defense against complainants within the agency called the Civil Rights Law Office. But, he needed more power and wanted to set personnel policy at EPA. So, when a vacancy came along as the Director of Human Resources, he was made the Director and given the responsibility for over 100 employees. Again, he didn’t last long. After a major complaint that outlined numerous allegations of violations and an investigation, he was moved out to the “boondocks” to supervise a small staff of eight employees. He was saved again by his mentor, the Deputy Chief of Staff Ray Spears. His savior, mentor and dear friend, Ray, took him in and moved him under his direct supervision as a Director again. How much trouble could he get into with his mentor as his supervisor and supervising only 8 employees? Not much, but he could do what he always did, which earned him the name “hatchet man.” He was being given another opportunity by his mentor to redeem himself and be rewarded for being a “team player” and a member of the “EPA fraternity.”
With a slight of hand and by violating civil rights laws and regulations, he and Ray Spears engaged in a coup d’état and delivered a coup degrade. Spears said that Dr. Coleman-Adebayo was not getting along in the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPPTS) where she worked and he had to step in to fix the problem. What problem? The Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo problem. After winning her case years before against EPA, Coleman-Adebayo experienced what most complainants do – reprisal and retaliation. So, when the inevitable occurred, she alleged that management was engaging in retaliation and filed more complaints. Agencies call these complainants “frequent filers,” and start a campaign start a campaign to destroy them by one means or another. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo was painted with the sexism stereotype that she just could not get along with others. The real reason was that she set a bad example for other EPA employees by taking the agency to court, winning and causing the passage of the No FEAR Act of 2002 by Congress. Spears, an attorney, then used the civil rights settlement process, interjecting himself into an organization, and plucked Marsha out of her office with the threat of either a reassignment or termination. Clearly a case of reprisal and retaliation for filing complaints. Later it was learned that the Director where she worked was not even aware of what Spears was doing. Another supervisor publicly stated that he was told to “crush” Marsha and stay as far away from her as possible. This move gave Spears the opportunity to show everyone how he, as the Deputy Chief of Staff, could use the civil rights system and procedures against someone who had the audacity to file complaints against the agency and win in court. This would send a signal to others that you entered the civil rights process at your own peril because in the end, no matter how long it took, no matter how much taxpayer money was used, the agency would get you.
Reprisal, or retaliatory actions taken against employees for engaging in protected activity such as filing a complaint, is the top basis for complaints throughout the Federal government. Complainants become Public Service Enemy No. 1 for having the audacity to accuse someone of discriminating against them. Aren’t we all mad when someone accuses us of something or when we lose? The complainant is viewed as bad, not a team player, and unable to get along with others and play nice. Spears came up with the same old solution used for centuries – blame the victim (particularly a woman) and beat them, if not physically – then mentally and professionally. This occurred for years in sexual harassment cases in which the victims were transferred out of their jobs instead of the perpetrators, normally men. This appeared to appeal to attorney Spears as a solution to the Coleman-Adebayo problem and he taught his subordinate, Rafael DeLeon, well so that they could work as a team to get rid of the good doctor. Spears’ was open about his gimmick to rid the agency of Marsha.
In a sworn affidavit, Spears said that Dr. Coleman-Adebayo could either agree to “terminate her employment,” or he would be compelled to move her out of her office to resolve the problems outlined in her complaints. In other words, if Marsha would not voluntarily leave the agency, Spears would take action against her, in spite of the fact that he had no direct authority over her because she reported to a supervisor, who reported up the chain of her office. In order for him to be involved at all, he needed to use the complaint settlement process. If she had not filed any complaints, he would not have been able to effectuate his plan to move her under his supervision and eventually get her out of the agency.
EPA epitomizes Yogi Berra’s saying, “it’s déjà vu all over again.” Dr. Coleman-Adebayo was moved out of her career field working on pesticides and other significant environmental concerns to a career field of working with committees. After all, the work could not have been too important because DeLeon was sent there later, out of the headquarters building, as punishment for his violations when he was removed as the Director of HR. Spears called Marsha’s move positive, as an opportunity for her to get along with others. The question to be asked is why management would move an employee who allegedly could not get along well with others to a position that entailed her working with committees and members of those committees? To the chagrin of the agency and Spears, Marsha worked well with her supervisor, a female, who allowed her to work from home on various projects and papers in line with the policies of the Flexi-place policy of the government and EPA. Then a miracle happened. Daiva decided to retire, which gave Ray a place to put his friend Rafael when he was in serious trouble. Rafael needed a place to hide out until he could rise again from the ashes. Where else would be safer than under the direct supervision of his dear friend and mentor Ray?
Gossip dies down eventually, a new crisis takes place, and people forget. Eventually, Rafael started to get his groove back and decided that he and his mentor could pull off their coup. It was time to fulfill the termination of Dr. Coleman-Adebayo as stated in Spear’s affidavit. First, DeLeon said he required Marsha in the work place, on the job, in the office, not on flexi-place because the work required it. This was contrary to government policy, but no one cared, because he and Ray required it. If she would or could not come into the office, she needed to prove why she could not do so. Marsha then asked for reasonable accommodation under the Rehabilitation Act and agency procedures because the years of stress and harassment had impacted on her health. Numerous letters from her doctors were ignored and she was required to use the agency-selected doctors. Enter Karen Higginbotham, Director of Civil Rights, (another one of Ray Spear’s mentees) and her subordinate, William “Bill” Haig, the National Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator (NRAC). Higginbotham became a main player, working with her mentor and Rafael, whom she often stated watched her back and she watched his back. Higginbotham was also moved out of her job as the Civil Rights Director because of violations of the laws and regulations, yet did not suffer because she was moved to another position, where she and Rafael work together. Failure at EPA at the highest levels in the Senior Executive Service does not seem to concern the agency. They just move you around, allowing you to wreck havoc on more employees. See articles “EPA Rafael Must Go.”
In spite of years of discrimination and stress, Bill Haig decided that Marsha was not disabled. Doctors’ notes just did not convince them. Sending her to EPA doctors and then ignoring their notes on her health and disabilities still did not convince them. Ray and Rafael stated under oath that they based their decisions to terminate Coleman-Adebayo on Haig’s determination that she was not disabled. Rafael and Ray said that Marsha needed her to come into the workplace so that the work could get done! Higginbotham and Haig were just doing their civil rights work. But what about the fact that Ray, Rafael and Karen were all involved in Marsha’s original complaints in 2001 and 2002? Did anyone consider this a conflict of interest? As in most agencies, EPA management believes that it’s easier to fight employees from the outside than allow them to remain inside, so Marsha had to go.
It does not take an environmental scientist to know what happened next. Higginbotham told one of her subordinates that the agency was trying to fire Coleman-Adebayo; Haig determined Marsha was not disabled; they all said the doctors’ notes were not good enough; Rafael proposed her removal from Federal Service; and, his dear friend-mentor-supervisor Ray agreed with him and she was fired. Ray’s affidavit said it all – either terminate, be moved and then I will terminate you at the first opportunity.
And, as a reward, Rafael was given the Office of Civil Rights Director’s position. But, managers tend to repeat themselves, so that in no time at all DeLeon had four complaints filed against him by women. Against EPA counsel’s advice, his egoism got the best of him and in a teleconference he called Dr. Coleman-Adebayo a “Pink Elephant” and “EPA Rosa Parks.” When the Administrator of EPA, Lisa Jackson, was asked what she was going to do about this sexist and racist name-calling, she told the press that an investigation was conducted, but the agency decided to do nothing about it. Did Rafael forget that Dr. Coleman-Adebayo had been called “EPA’s Rosa Parks” during her first charges of discrimination against the agency? Or, did he remember what was being said a decade before and repeating it?
We asked in the beginning of this story, what it takes to know that you made a mistake and correct it? Did we shed enough light on the situation so that the Administrator and her management cronies can answer that question now and do the right thing? Or, is it going to be “déjà vu all over again,” since Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is in District Court again, her book “No FEAR: A Whistleblower’s Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA,” is out and covers the corruption at EPA, the Occupy EPA movement is protesting weekly against the agency, there are numerous Title VII internal and Title VI external community-based discrimination complaints, two major sex/race/reprisal complaints are in District Court, employees have filed whistle blowing cases against the agency that were sustained by the Office of Special Counsel, and several more employees are planningi to file complaints against DeLeon.
Is this the kind of change that President Obama promised Americans from his political appointees? It does not appear that Ms. Jackson is worried that the situation is volatile enough to impact on her or her boss, who is currently running for reelection.