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PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

USDA SETTLES RACE DISCRIMINATION CASE

Washington, D.C.

     On the eve of trial in federal court, William Sanders settled his race discrimination claim against the United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Sanders, a Special Agent in the Inspector General’s office, who claimed he was denied a promotion to a GS-14 supervisory position because he is African American, received a retroactive promotion to the GS-14 and $177,000 in exchange for dropping his lawsuit.

     Mr. Sanders had worked on the security detail protecting the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for over 10 years. As part of his job, Sanders trained new agents and acted as chief of the branch whenever his supervisor was absent. "Six different Secretaries whom he protected as they traveled throughout the world wrote in praise of him for his outstanding performance and professionalism and the safety and security he provided," said Gary T. Brown, Mr. Sanders’ attorney. "The current Secretary, Ann Veneman, when she was the Deputy, also wrote incomparable praises for Mr. Sanders."

     His second line supervisor, Craig Beauchamp, an Assistant Inspector General in charge of negotiations, promised Mr. Sanders the promotion to GS-14 and encouraged Mr. Sanders to stay with the assignment rather than pursue promotions elsewhere in the Inspector General’s Office. Mr. Sanders was also told he would become the head of the Security Detail when his supervisor retired. The supervisor, Millard Reid, gave sworn testimony strongly and repeatedly recommending Mr. Sanders as his replacement, yet in spite of these efforts, six months before Mr. Reid’s last day, Mr. Sanders was involuntarily transferred to a field office in Hyattsville, Maryland, effectively ending his chances for advancement.

     Believing race was involved because of limitations other African Americans faced within the USDA, Mr. Sanders filed an EEO charge. When it became clear that the USDA was not interested in a reasonable resolution, Mr. Sanders filed his formal discrimination complaint in federal district court on June 18, 1999.

     Several times USDA tried to have the action dismissed, but failed. One attempt argued that the involuntary transfer is not a significant enough employment actions on which to base an EEO claim. Federal Judge Urbina held otherwise, finding that the transfer did have an impact on Mr. Sanders’ ability to be reasonably considered for the promotion at issue. "Judge Urbina’s written opinion has helped other plaintiffs refute employers’ arguments and preserve their claims for relief when only a discriminatory transfer is at issue," added Mr. Brown.

     One final bump in the road to resolution again resulted in a favorable outcome for Mr. Sanders. USDA had required Mr. Sanders’ immediate retirement as a condition of settlement, which was only several months before his mandatory retirement date as a Special Agent. But, when the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) did not process the retirement papers correctly, it threatened to create a financial hardship for Mr. Sanders.

     The USDA offered to allow Mr. Sanders to return to work and use his annual leave to get money while waiting to receive his retirement funds, he refused. To prevent the settlement agreement from falling apart, USDA was forced to provide Mr. Sanders with six weeks of paid administrative leave. Mr. Sanders also gained two more months of tenure, although part of that time was spent working to prevent OIG from inflicting one final injury.

     "Mr. Sanders was a dedicated employee who wanted to and succeeded in performing his federal job well. But when he was unfairly denied a promotion, Mr. Sanders was forced to use his best skills to fight his supervisors," Brown remarked. "He did finally get the promotion, retroactively; he also received increased retirement benefits, a healthy cash settlement and free time to once again enjoy life."

     Gary T. Brown & Associates is a national civil rights law firm specializing exclusively in representing individuals or groups who have been subjected to harassment in the workplace. We are dedicated to the propositions set forth in the Constitution guaranteeing everyone the right to equality under the law regardless of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or handicap.