Attorney General Firings - Politics or Not?

Discrimination is appalling, but discrimination by the DOJ is frightening. After all this is the office that administers the Civil Rights Division.


What is stated on the job announcements for DOJ? Looking through job description notices at DOJ today, one finds the following on some notices:


" The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, color, race, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, disability, age, status as a parent, membership or nonmembership in an employee organization, or personal favoritism."

Did DOJ include "sexual orientation" under the AG Gonzalez regime, and if they did was this violated? And what happened to President Clinton's Executive Order 13087 that prohibited discrimination based upon sexual orientation? And is AG Mukasey doing any training in his department now to make certain that discrimination of all types does not exist?

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/

Maybe that explains why the Criminal Division is in shambles because of certain loyal Bushies being put in positions politically and why this is in ties with the OSC office lead by Scott Bloch.

Shortly after taking office, Bloch ordered the removal from the OSC Web site and training materials any statement that discrimination based on sexual orientation was a banned practice in the federal workplace.


The OSC is an independent body charged with defending federal employees who disclose incidents of abuse, waste or mismanagement, or who have been discriminated against in the workplace because of political affiliation or personal status. To protect the OSC from outside pressure, the agency’s director is appointed for five years and cannot be removed except in cases of illegal misconduct.

And looks like Bloch was squashing the protection of sexual orientation and discrimination in the workplace. Here is OSC memo on the website in 2004:

RESULTS OF LEGAL REVIEW OF DISCRIMINATION STATUTE
________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 4/8/04
CONTACT: CATHY DEEDS
(202) 254-3600

Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch today announced the results of the legal review to determine the extent of jurisdiction of the office to process claims under Title 5, Section 2302(b)(10).

“It is the policy of this Administration that discrimination in the federal workforce on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited,” Bloch stated. “The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has been engaged in a review of its authority to process claims of sexual orientation discrimination under Title 5, Section 2302(b)(10), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of ‘conduct which does not adversely affect the performance of the employee or applicant or the performance of others.’ OSC has always enforced claims of sexual orientation discrimination based on actual conduct. Based on its review, OSC has concluded that such authority exists in cases other than actual conduct when reasonable grounds exist to infer that those engaging in discriminatory acts on the basis of sexual orientation have discriminated on the basis of imputed private conduct. Such inferences apply to all claims under Section 2302(b)(10), including, but not limited to, sexual orientation discrimination claims. The materials formerly on OSC’s Web site were not clear about the statutory basis for OSC’s authority. OSC believes that the materials currently on its Web site are consistent with the view of the law described above, but intends to review and revise those materials as necessary to ensure that employees are fully aware of the protections provided.”

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency. Its primary mission is to safeguard the merit system in federal employment by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices, especially retaliation for whistleblowing. OSC also has jurisdiction over the Hatch Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

For more information about OSC, please visit our Web site at www.osc.gov.

However, there was no information for federal employees on how to file antigay bias complaints, as the site contained prior to Bloch's tenure.

By the way, why is Bloch still employed as the OSC?