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NWC Calls on EPA to Oust Civil Rights Director |
Washington, D.C. April 20, 2011. Today, the National Whistleblowers Center released an open letter to Lisa Jackson the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the racial and sexual discriminatory conduct of the newly appointed director of the EPA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Rafael DeLeon and calling for his immediate dismissal.
A recent
Deloitte Consultant Report found that the EPA's Office of Civil
Rights was essentially dysfunctional. However, the person hired to
"fix" the office, Mr. DeLeon, has had numerous complaints filed against
him by women. In fact, Mr. DeLeon fired former EPA employee and NWC
Board of Director's Member Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.
The NWC
was alerted that during a recent Agency-wide conference call, Mr. DeLeon
bragged about actions taken against two senior female civil rights
leaders and called the women by the derogatory term "pink elephants."
During the same conference call, Mr. DeLeon also attempted to humiliate
and destroy the reputation of Dr. Coleman-Adebayo by disparagingly
referring to her as "the Rosa Parks of EPA."
Richard Renner,
Legal Director of the National Whistleblowers Center called Mr. DeLeon's
denigration of the late Rosa Parks "irreverent and inexcusable" and
demonstrates "his utter contempt for the women named and the 9,000 women
currently serving in EPA's labor force."
The letter explains
additional improper actions by Mr. DeLeon.
Mr. Renner called for
immediate action by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson:
In light of the Deloitte Report and the
disclosures here about Mr. DeLeon's behavior and remarks, you must make
a pivotal decision about the direction of EPA's OCR. We call on you to
make a clean break from the past. We call on you to make a decision that
visibly rejects discrimination, retaliation, and intimidation. We call
on you to bring in fresh air and create an atmosphere where any
conscientious employee can raise concerns about waste, fraud, abuse and
discrimination. We need your decisive leadership to end the paralysis of
silence.
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Tags: Federal Employee Protections
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