DEA Class Action

FINAL AGENCY DECISION ISSUED, WILL BE APPEALED

The Department of Justice issued its Final Decision in this case, reversing the EEOC Administrative Judge’s decision finding class-wide discrimination.  DOJ determined that the class complaint should not have been certified, and that the class had failed to establish its claim that DEA discriminated against female Special Agents in foreign assignments.

See a copy of the DOJ Final Decision by clicking here.

Class Counsel will be filing an appeal of the DOJ Decision with the EEOC Office of Federal Operations.  The EEOC will then be the agency responsible for making the final decision in the case.

Please monitor this website for status updates on the appeal.  Thank you, and we appreciate the patience of every class member.

BACKGROUND ON THE CASE

On March 17, 1993, Ann Garcia, now a retired DEA Special Agent, filed a formal class complaint of discrimination against the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), alleging that the DEA had denied her and other similarly situated female Special Agents foreign assignments and promotions based on their gender.

The EEOC administrative judge initially denied certification of the class complaint. Class Agent Garcia decided to appeal that decision to the Office of Federal Operations (“OFO”) on behalf of the class as a whole. While the OFO affirmed the administrative judge’s ruling on August 19, 1996, we as class counsel moved for the OFO to reconsider its decision. On October 1, 1998, we won with regard to foreign assignments. The OFO certified the class as “those female Special Agents who were denied foreign assignments between 1990 and 1992.”

The case was processed as a class complaint by the EEOC, though it took over six years to issue an order acknowledging and accepting the class complaint for investigation and adjudication. On March 10, 2005, a scheduling order was issued and the case proceeded to discovery. We as class counsel conducted extensive discovery of the DEA’s gender-biased policies and practices in selecting Special Agents for foreign assignments, including evidence of de facto disqualification of females from consideration from such assignments because their spouses were employed or because they were single mothers.

On December 8, 2006, the Agency filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, to dismiss the class complaint. The EEOC took over two years to issue a ruling, but on March 26, 2009, the EEOC administrative judge denied the Agency’s motion and issued a Scheduling order, setting an administrative trial for the class complaint in July 2009.

The case finally went to a hearing in July 2009. The evidence at the trial included testimony that objective qualifications were not as important as “who you know and who you blow.”  Female agents were told that pregnant female agents were “useless,” that female agents should be home having babies, single mothers had no business traveling overseas, that if a female agent wanted to travel overseas they should “stop getting pregnant,” and female agents did not deserve to be on the job and their true intentions were to sleep with male agents and live off their income.

On April 27, 2011, Administrative Judge Frances del Toro of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the DEA discriminated against a class of female special agents in career-enhancing foreign assignments and promotions in the early 1990s.

See ABC News report on the Class Action victory.

On January 12, 2012, Administrative Judge del Toro issued her Report of Findings and Recommendations, including an award of relief for Class Agent Ann Garcia. The Administrative Judge also required that the DEA “immediately take corrective action to ensure that the discrimination . . . does not recur.”  The systemic relief ordered includes:

• Mandatory anti-discrimination training to supervisors, managers and staff involved in the selection process for overseas positions.
• Consideration of disciplinary action against the responsible management officials who were named in the Report of Findings.
• Immediately ceasing making inquiries to applicants for overseas positions about their marital or family status.

The Administrative Judge also awarded attorneys fees and costs incurred by Class Counsel in the suit.

The Department of Justice is now considering implementing the Administrative Judge’s Report of Findings. We expect that determination in mid-March 2012.  If the Report of Findings is adopted, all potential Class Members will be notified of their right to file an individual claim of relief. Relief may include retroactive placement in a foreign assignment, back pay, and compensatory damages.  If the Report of Findings is rejected or modified, an appeal to the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations is expected.

If you believe you are a class member who may want to file a claim for individual relief, please contact:

Juliette Niehuss
Kator, Parks, & Weiser, PLLC
1200 18th St., N.W. Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20036
jniehuss@katorparks.com