July 2014

“C4C - Addressing Racial Equality and Retaliation in the Federal Workplace”

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On July 5, 1852 - Frederick Douglass gave a speech

at an event commemorating the signing of the

Declaration of Independence. It was biting oratory, in

which Douglass disclosed: " The Meaning of July

Fourth for the Negro."

Image of Frederick Douglas (Wikimediacommons)

On July 2, 1964 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Pub.L. 88–352, was enacted. The landmark piece

of civil rights legislation in the United States

outlawed discrimination based on race, color,

religion, sex, or national origin

Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP): Employee Perceptions (August 2011- MSPB Report)

The Merit Systems Protection Board’s report

entitled Employee Perceptions provides Congress

and the President with important information about

the health of the Federal merit systems. Within the

report, the MSPB disclosed because of statutory

language, there are only a few ways the Board can

adjudicate PPP allegations. The first avenue

involves the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

OSC has the power to file with the Board a

complaint asserting that a PPP has been

committed.

EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER

IN THIS ISSUE:

SAVE THE DATE – Whistleblower Summit

DID YOU KNOW? 1

PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICE 1

ACTIVITY UPDATE 2

CASE HIGHLIGHTS 2

STAYING CONNECTED 3

WHAT’S NEW? 3

FEDERAL FOCUS (SSA) 3

CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATORS 3

WELLNESS WATCH 4

YOU MEAN I CAN BE SUED? 4

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 4

LINKS 5

C4C

Whistleblower Summit for

Civil & Human Rights July

28-31, 2014

Over the last eight years members

from the Make it Safe Coalition

(MISC) have arranged an assembly

of whistleblowers in Washington,

DC. All whistleblowers and

advocates are invited to the free

event. Check link for updates.

Frederick Douglas

July 2014

“C4C - Addressing Racial Equality and Retaliation in the Federal Workplace”

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OSC can ask the Board to order corrective

action, meaning that if OSC proves its case,

the Board will undo the personnel action

that constituted the PPP.

OSC can also ask for disciplinary action,

meaning that OSC requests that the Board

order a reprimand, suspension, demotion, or

removal action to discipline an individual

for having committed a PPP.

OSC can also request that the Board debar

an individual from Federal employment for

a period of up to 5 years and/or assess a

civil fine of up to $1,000.5

[Excerpt from page 1&2 of MSPB report]

CASE HIGHLIGHTS

Settlement Agreements

Settlement Agreement Void for Lack of

Consideration. Complainant and the Agency

entered into a settlement agreement which provided

that the Agency would afford Complainant “all

opportunities as all other employees for

consideration for promotions, details, assignments,

and other appropriate personnel actions.”

Complainant subsequently notified the Agency that

it was in breach of the agreement. Specifically,

Complainant stated that a Manager was unwilling to

consider her for detail assignments. On appeal, the

Commission found that the agreement was

unenforceable and void for lack of consideration.

The agreement provided Complainant with nothing

more than that to which she was already entitled as

an employee, and so she received no consideration

with respect to the agreement. The Agency was

ordered to resume processing the underlying EEO

complaint. Peters v. U.S. Postal Serv., EEOC

Appeal No. 0120102922 (November 3, 2011).

Breach of Contract

In an action for breach of contract, in which

plaintiff alleges that defendant-former employer,

the government, disclosed details about him to

another employer and thereby violated a

confidentiality provision of a settlement agreement,

the Court of Federal Claims' decision that res

judicata barred his claim because plaintiff declined

the rescission and reinstatement remedies offered

by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), is

reversed and remanded, where: 1) the Claims Court

possessed jurisdiction under the Tucker Act; but 2)

because jurisdictional limits on the MSPB's

remedial authority did not permit plaintiff to seek

monetary damages for defendant's breach of

contract, the MSPB's prior judgment of dismissal

does not preclude his suit in the Claims Court.

Cunningham v. US, No. 2013-5055

Highlights of June Activity

C4C met with staff of the Ranking Member

of Oversight and Government Reform

Committee about the need for discipline to

hold civil rights violators accountable.

C4C followed up and received a response

from the Office of Personnel Management

regarding the number of Administrative

Law Judges by agency and “race.” The

OPM reply is available on C4C’s website.

C4C continues to expose the abuses within

Veterans Affairs. An OpED piece was

written on the VA’s failure to timely treat

patients long before the Phoenix scandal

In support of an MSPBWatch initiative

C4C made available members’ letters from

the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) in

which the OSC declined to investigate a

whistleblower complaint. (An analysis of

the letters discloses common error and

misapplications made by the OSC)

C4C developed site to further expose

discrimination & retaliation Black females

face at the Social Security Administration.

July 2014

“C4C - Addressing Racial Equality and Retaliation in the Federal Workplace”

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Staying Connected C4C members* as well as our advocacy partners

maintain websites that provide insight on federal

workplace culture, challenges, and recommendations for

improvement. A few of the sites are noted below.

African American Voice Newspaper

ASKFMB

Federal Sector Workplace Discrimination

Make It Safe Coalition

Point Man Ministries of Albany

USDA Coalition of Minority Employees

Veterans Whistleblower Story

/

FYI: C4C’s efforts to expose racism and reprisal

are being well publicized. While googling the

internet earlier this month, an article in

“RADIOLOGY DAILY recognized C4C’s

contribution in exposing abuses within the Veterans

Affairs. Notably, our member Oliver Mitchell is

cited in the article entitled: Imaging Whistle-

Blower Sues Veterans Agency

Supporting One Another! A few members in the DC metro area greeted our

Chicago C4C member “Dr. Keesha Karriem”

Pictured from left to right: Terri Williams, Keesha Karriem,

Tanya Ward Jordan and Arthuretta Holmes-Martin

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINSTRATION

Class Action (Taylor, et. al v SSA) In a decision

dated March 30, 2011, pursuant to a trial before the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC); the EEOC found: “class-wide

discrimination against nonsupervisory African-

American female employees who were denied

promotions into the GS-12 level, from December 9,

2000 to the present, as a consequence of the

Agency's unrebutted statistical evidence of disparity

in promotions.”

“CIVIL RIGHTS

VIOLATORS”

______________________________________

SARA REVELL Bureau of Prisons (McFadden v Holder)

JEANETTE BUTLER Department of Veterans Affairs

(Saunders v VA)

LONNIE KIMBALL Department of Interior

Stewart v Kempthorne

Social Security

Administration

July 2014

“C4C - Addressing Racial Equality and Retaliation in the Federal Workplace”

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WELLNESS WATCH

Racism literally hurts and harms the human body.

For this reason, those who are often victimized by it

should take added steps to heal the mind, body, soul

and spirit. RELAX and learn the toxins to avoid.

A booklet by the National Institute of Health

addresses concerns about the connection between

cancer* and exposure to toxic substances in the

environment. It contains information about which

substances are likely to cause cancer, and what can

be done to reduce exposures to them.

■ Don’t smoke cigarettes, pipes, or cigars. Don’t

chew tobacco or dip snuff. Avoid smoke-filled

rooms. Tobacco products are linked to many

cancers,

■ Lose weight if you are overweight. Obesity is

strongly linked to breast cancer in older women and

cancers of the endometrium, kidney, colon, and

esophagus. Exercise regularly, at least 30 minutes

per day for most days of the week. Strong evidence

exists that exercise by itself reduces the risk of

colon and breast cancer.

■ Drink alcohol moderately, if at all, especially if

you smoke. (One or two alcoholic drinks a day is

considered moderate.) Heavy drinking is linked to

cancers of the mouth, throat, breast, esophagus,

voice box, and liver.

BOOK: REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL

CANCER RISK-What We Can Do Now

You Mean I Can Be Sued?

A U.S Department of Justice news bulletin dated

2002 provides insight about civil suits. According

to the article,” many federal employees are

surprised to learn for the first time that they can be

personally sued for doing their jobs. They are even

more surprised to learn that the Federal

Government does not automatically defend cases

arising from employment-related actions, nor does

their employing agency necessarily indemnify them

in the event the case is lost – even if the agency

believes that no wrongdoing occurred. READ

MORE.

In the Spotlight: Isaac Decatur, A Selfless

Activist and Change Agent

Our C4C member Isaac Decatur is a U.S. Navy

veteran. After eighteen years with the Department,

of Veterans Affairs (VA), Isaac was fired from

VA’s' Durham, North Carolina office after he filed

an EEO complaint (Decatur v Shinseki,

0120073404). He later “won” his complaint.

Notably, the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission found that the VA officials (Maurice

Troop and Jeanette Butler) named in his complaint

had engaged in discrimination. Today, Brother

Isaac Decatur selflessly serves to promote

accountability in the federal sector. Most recently,

MEMBER *Spotlight*

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he has volunteered to support C4C’s goals by

servings as “OUTREACH CHAIR.” Thanks to

Brother Isaac’s facilitating efforts, C4C has attained

radio broadcast segments on “Brothers Karriem and

Company,” article coverage with the African

American Voice Newspaper and obtained an

advisory role in filmmaker’s Miles J. Edwards

project --The Last American Plantation.

C4C Salutes Brother Isaac

Decatur!

Luke 21:15 New International Version (NIV)

15 For I will give you words and wisdom that

none of your adversaries will be able to resist

or contradict.”

Have you missed

A C4C EXCHANGE newsletter?

If so click here.

Also, if you are a member and you would

like to share an article, a thought or editorial

send an email labeled “EXCHANGE” with

your submission for consideration to:

c4c@coalition4change.org

C4C is a nonprofit group dedicated to freedom from

discrimination, in accordance with Title VII of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964. C4C needs financial and

volunteer support. You can send donations to:

The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C)

P.O. Box 142, Washington, DC 20044

Or via PAYPAL

at http://coalition4change.org/contactus.htm

NO FEAR DATA by AGENCY

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/nofear/nofear_u

rls.cfm

MPSB DECISIONS

http://www.mspb.gov/decisions/decisions.htm

SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION

Websites: C4c@coalition4change.org

C4c@coalition4change.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/C4CFED

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-

Coalition-For-Change-Inc-C4C/115920498448217

YOUTUBE channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheC4C/videos

We will always stand . . .

"In UNITY."

C4C EXCHANGE Newsletter

Tanya Ward Jordan, M.S. Janel Smith, M.S

Editor Publisher

C4C