From: LawrLCL@aol.com
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 01:22:02 -0500
Subject: Fwd: Open Letter: To Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary of Agriculture,Feb 4, 2011
To: angusfarms@hotmail.com
Sent: 2/4/2011 6:41:49 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Open Letter: To Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary of Agriculture,Feb 4, 2011
The Honorable Secretary Thomas J. VilsackUnited States Department of Agriculture1400 Independence Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20250February 4, 2011AN OPEN LETTER TO SECRETARY VILSACKDear Secretary Vilsack:In May 2008, Lawrence Lucas, President of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees (The Coalition) and I testified before congress for the Committee of Government Oversight and Reform, Adolphus Towns, Chairman. Our testimonies addressed egregious civil rights violations of women and others, especially in the Forest Service. In April 2009, I sent you a letter advising of serious and pervasive civil rights violations occurring in the Forest Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). I shared my concern about the long-term obstructionist officials that would undermine your new Civil Rights Initiative. In July 26, 2010, I sent you a similar letter also discussing the dysfunctional USDA civil rights program. During that time, I've sent dozens of emails to your staff advising of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, work place violence and other abuses. Little-to-no action has been taken to address these issues.From September 2010, through December 2010, The Coalition participated in several meetings with your staff, including Chief of Staff Karen Ross; Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan; Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Joe Leonard; Under Secretary Harris Sherman; Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary Doug O'Brien; HR Deputy Director Billy Milton; Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell; Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Edward Avalos, and others, to discuss civil rights problems and solutions. In addition, in October 2010, Lawrence Lucas provided your staff a letter with twenty-five civil rights issues and a formal request to jointly develop solutions and resolve the identified problems. In November, 2010, I provided Karen Ross a letter identifying incidents of harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, stalking, threats, intimidation, retaliation, and workplace bullying, in addition to matters of high level officials engaging in waste, fraud, and abuse.I think it is evident that the Coalition has diligently attempted to communicate issues, concerns, and solutions to USDA during your tenure as Secretary of Agriculture. And yet, to this date we have seen little-to-no correction of these problems. Employees we identified in 2008, 2009, and 2010, are still being harassed and retaliated against. Not one offender has been held properly accountable. Repeat offenders continue the abuse. Many employees have still not been allowed mediation of EEO complaints. ADR resolving officials use retaliation tactics such as demotions and coerced retirements. Policies and procedures are used to the benefit of favored sons and daughters, and the detriment of others. High level officials abuse their authority for personal gain. There has been no visible "Transformation" that you have promised us.The Coalition has appreciated your staff meeting with us to discuss issues. Yet, there has been no visible action as a result of the meetings. Of particular concern has been the Coalition's discussions with Joe Leonard. The past two meetings were unproductive and actually quite disturbing due to Dr. Leonard's unprofessional behavior. The January 2010 meeting had been predetermined to be a discussion of the twenty-five action items prepared by The Coalition. Lawrence Lucas, Ron Cotton, and I attended. The meeting was reduced to raised voices and insults from Dr. Leonard. He started the meeting by stating he would not discuss our issues and concerns, flatly refusing to speak with us if I participated in the meeting via tele-conferencing. He focused on why The Coalition would not give him credit for "his" accomplishments. Our few meetings with Dr. Leonard have been non-productive and lacked substance. We do not believe this behavior is representative of your desire to work in cooperation and partnership with The Coalition. Unfortunately, Karen Ross insisted that we continue to work with Dr. Leonard despite the inability to have a productive meeting. I believe intervention is necessary to correct this matter.Of greatest concern, and one of the main reasons for writing this letter is the recent alleged investigation conducted by your staff and the Forest Service. In December, Billy Milton advised Lawrence Lucas, Ron Cotton, and I, that you, Mr. Secretary had directed him, via Pearlie Reed to conduct an investigation based on my allegations of serious Forest Service civil rights violations. I was asked to speak with an investigator. I agreed and gave a sworn, signed affidavit discussing multiple incidents, employee names, and examples of dysfunctional personnel/civil rights processes. In my affidavit I stated that there were numerous other employees waiting to speak with an investigator, yet I was the only person interviewed. The investigator said he was told that my affidavit would be used to start a personnel misconduct investigation. During the week of January 10, 2011, new investigators interviewed some of the employees identified in my affidavit. However, an investigation was not conducted. It was an informal inquiry. Unlike myself, employees were not placed under oath and did not provide signed affidavits. Employees were not permitted to see or confirm the statements made to the investigator. Many employees informed me that they were not allowed to provide information regarding their issues. Statements in my affidavit were read to the employees and they were asked to confirm whether my statement was true. This is highly unconventional. A few weeks before the inquiry, Mr. Milton told me the agency was waiting to complete the upcoming "investigation" to determine how to settle one woman's EEO case. He reiterated this during the December 20, 2010, meeting with Harris Sherman and Tom Tidwell. However, when the investigator interviewed the woman she was told it was, "just an inquiry" and she did not want specific details. It is readily apparent that there was little motivation by your staff to gather substantial and factual information about the alleged Forest Service civil rights violations.On more than one occasion Mr. Milton characterized the Forest Service investigation as being directed by you because you were serious about the Transformation, very concerned about the continual civil rights problems and complaints in the Forest Service, and you wanted an investigation based on my allegations as a first step to correcting the problem. If this is true, your staff did not follow this direction. Not permitting employees to provide statements undermines the entire investigative process. Reading my sworn statement to employees to check its veracity is an investigation of me, not the employees' complaints. This action is not unlike the situation that occurred in 2010, when top Obama officials in your administration (one, said to be Pearlie Reed) falsely charged five African American women in the Office of Civil Rights with divulging information regarding farmer cases. During the investigation, a substantial number of questions were asked about their relationship with Lawrence Lucas, i.e. an investigation of Mr. Lucas. These incidents are too similar to go unnoticed. It is not unreasonable to question why I, a non-employee was asked to provide a sworn statement with hearsay information, but the complainants themselves were not permitted to give sworn statements or discuss the civil rights violations they incurred or observed first-hand.Prior to the inquiry, Billy Milton had been amiable, communicative, and told me I could call him with any questions or concerns. So I contacted Mr. Milton on February 1, 2011, to gain insight on the inquiry matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Milton was hostile and rude from the beginning. He implied I was lying when I told him employees were not permitted to discuss their issues and were instead asked to verify my statement. He told me the investigation was not my concern and abruptly hung up. His attitude convinced me that little good will come of the inquiry.Mr. Secretary, I am now compelled to insure you are provided with accurate information regarding the civil rights violations of USDA employees, and the waste, fraud, and abuse committed by some of your officials. We will provide you a substantial number of notarized affidavits from Forest Service employees. It is my hope that someone in the Obama administration will understand the disturbing situation and see that action must be taken to address USDA's widespread civil rights problems.While we have been coming to the meetings with your staff in good faith to discuss problems and identify solutions, it is evident that some of your staff's intentions have been nefarious. Apparently, their goal is to undermine our attempts to assist you with your Transformation to make the USDA a place of respect, dignity, and equal opportunity for all employees. Mr. Secretary, as I stated in my 2009 letter, officials who are obstructionist make your work harder. They create Shirley Sherrod scenarios. If the Forest Service situation is not addressed, it is quite possible you will have another Sherrod situation on your hands in the near future. In fact, at this point it seems inevitable.On a more positive note, I have seen a glimmer of action occurring in Region 5. Mr. Moore has recently taken steps (albeit baby steps) to correct a couple of egregious situations. He has also requested our assistance to work with him on some important issues. I am hopeful he will receive your support to continue in this direction. My reasonable concern is that certain personnel may undermine our efforts. I ask for your oversight on this situation.Secretary Vilsack, for almost two years The Coalition has been requesting a meeting with you. I think it has become more important than ever to meet and resolve the identified problems. Please feel free to contact either Lawrence or me if you wish to discuss matters in this letter.Sincerely,/s/Lesa L. DonnellyVice-President, USDA Coalition of Minority Employeescc: The White HousePresident Barack ObamaValerie JarrettSenator Charles GrassleyLawrence Lucas, President, USDA Coalition of Minority EmployeesRon Cotton, Senior Advisor, USDA Coalition of Minority EmployeesKathleen MerriganKrysta HardenPearlie ReedHarris ShermanDr. Joe LeonardEdward AvalosTom TidwellCoalition Membership
