Condor
Customs Corruption & No Fear Act
Sat Oct 4 05:09:04 2003
64.140.158.50
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Customs Corruption & No Fear Act
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 19:12:50 -0700
From: "Condor"
johncarman@earthlink.net
To: "American Patriot Friends Network"
apfn@apfn.org
Is there a way you might post this on your wonderful website?
http://www.customscorruption.com
John Carman
Whistleblower
johncarman@earthlink.net
Washington Post
Law Now Requires Agencies to Pay Up for Bias, Whistle-Blower Cases
By Stephen Barr
Wednesday, October 1, 2003; Page B02 Federal agencies can no longer escape the
cost of settlements and judgments in discrimination and whistle-blower
reprisal cases brought by their employees.Under the No Fear Act, agencies must
reimburse the Judgment Fund at the Treasury Department when they settle or
lose bias and reprisal cases, effective today, the start of fiscal 2004.
Previously, agencies were not required to reimburse the fund, and critics
argued that let agencies avoid accountability for acts of discrimination or
reprisal against their employees.
"It is pretty significant," Mark A. Robbins, general counsel at the Office of
Personnel Management, said yesterday. "A small agency with a big judgment is
going to have to figure out how to pay for it."The White House has directed
OPM to write the regulations implementing the law, and Robbins said the rules
would be issued in stages. The first, being published this week, lays out the
reimbursement procedures that agencies must follow when they tap the Treasury
fund to pay legal bills in bias and whistle-blower cases.
The law does not specify how agencies are to make the reimbursements, except
to say that they cannot raid employee pension funds or law enforcement
accounts to come up with the money.Robbins said the OPM's regulations will
give agencies a deadline for paying back funds, such as 45 days. If an agency
cannot meet the reimbursement deadline, it will be asked to submit a plan to
the Treasury Department showing how it intends to pay back the money.
The law has raised concerns in numerous agencies, in part because of the
reimbursement requirement. Officials have asked whether they could reduce
spending on a program, furlough employees or take some other drastic step
because they lose a big case. The law also raises difficult questions about
whether agencies must take stronger and swifter steps to discipline managers
found at fault in such cases.
The law, the Notification and Federal Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation Act
of 2002, grew out of a House investigation into what congressional aides
called a disturbing pattern of intolerance, harassment and discrimination at
the Environmental Protection Agency. During the probe, federal employees at
other agencies complained of similar problems.In the past, agencies could
avoid financial penalties in bias and reprisal cases by turning to the
Judgment Fund to cover their legal costs. Congress created the general fund to
avoid having to approve specific appropriations for such legal bills and, in
theory, to allow for prompter payment.But the No Fear Act removes that shield
and hits them in their pocketbooks.
"There is anxiety out in the departments and agencies over how this will play
out over time," Robbins said.Other regulations to implement the law will be
issued during the next two months, he said. The law requires agencies to file
reports with Congress and the attorney general on the number of complaints
filed against them by employees, the disposition of each case, the total of
all monetary awards charged against the agency and the number of employees
disciplined for discrimination or harassment.
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, the leader of a coalition of federal employees who
have suffered from discrimination, said yesterday that her group would urge
the White House to become more involved in ensuring that agencies obey the No
Fear Act and that they tighten up their handling of bias complaints.Robbins
said he plans to get feedback on No Fear regulations from the coalition. He
also noted that OPM has been consulting with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and the Office of Special Counsel on how to fashion the
regulations.
The No FEAR Institute/Coalition
The No FEAR Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan oversight organization
committed to the education and defense of victims of employer discrimination
through the 2002 No FEAR Act. The law advances good governance through
congressional oversight, agency accountability, financial penalties and
disciplinary consequences for illegal behavior in the federal government.
www.nofearinstitute.org
http://groups.msn.com/nofearcoalition
Please send contributions to:
P.O. Box 681 - Glen Echo, Maryland 20812-0681
John Carman-Former U.S.Secret Service-U.S.Customs/INS-SDPD
Director-Carman Investigations
California State License P.I.8686
P.O. Box 3811
La Mesa, Ca. 91944
Pager: (619)601-9250
Cell: (619)806-0047
johncarman@earthlink.net
www.CarmanInvestigations.com
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------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri Oct 3, 2003 5:37 pm
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