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From: <LawrLCL@aol.com>
Date: Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 7:17 PM
Subject: Fwd: Ron Cotton, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, Letter to President Ob...
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Subj: Ron Cotton, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, Letter to President Obama
Subj: Observations and Requests
July 2, 2011The White HousePresident Barack Obama1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, D.C. 20500Dear Mr. President:My name is Ronald Cotton. I am currently employed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and I have 38 years of continuous service. You could consider this an addendum to USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, President Lawrence Lucas, letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack, of November 10, 2010, Issues and Solutions Regarding USDA Civil Rights and Ms. Lesa Donnelly's Vice President of the USDA Coalitions letter of May 19, 2011 to you. It is important to us that we make certain aspects of our concerns clear. I see no real need to go into great detail about the horrors of working at USDA, Ms. Lesa Donnelly's, letter of May 19, 2011, captured that extremely well. However, to bring clarity I submit the following.We have expressed, in writing, that we are pleased to see some action on the part of USDA, at the direction of the White House to begin the process in, what appears to be an earnest effort to correct what is defective in Forest Service (FS). It is our understanding that this effort could take up to six months or more. It is our recommendation that the same type effort is expanded now, within the next 30-60 days, to USDA, APHIS, Ames Iowa, laboratory; NIFA, Financial Operations Branch, Washington, D.C.; NRCS, USDA HR, FS nationwide; and others where the workplace environment is just as bad as the Forest Service situation.We believe that six months or more before such an effort is expanded to give proper attention to these areas is too long. Many employees in these areas are on the brink as well. We are aware of financial considerations; however, we are confident that our government can deploy its resources in such a way to make this happen. We know that contractors are already assisting with the Forest Service situation.We are also concerned about monies being applied to training to get abusers, bullies, and others who behaved badly in the federal workplace to change. You should know that considerable funding has already been invested in such training with little to no results. We still see the same bad behavior. Many are repeat offenders. We strongly believe that those who behave badly in the federal workplace dishonor the federal service and should not remain federal employees. That is but one way to effectively deal with this and hold people accountable.While we do agree with those in your Administration, and prior administrations, that the USDA, Office of General Counsel (OGC) should have a role in effectively managing the Civil Rights program at USDA, that role should be a limited one. We see their role coming into focus, should a matter go/going to EEOC, MSPB or court - not at every stage of an EEO/Civil rights matter as it is now, with the sole objective of protecting those who behave badly in the federal workplace. Those who mistreat other federal employees, or abuse their power over others, should not have the right to do so. And for every legal position that OGC presents, there are other opinions with equal force that help and support the victims, USDA employees and Minority and women farmers.Simply put, treat others as you would like to be treated. You also have appointed an Assistant Secretary for Civil rights, Dr. Joe Leonard. When the Coalition, minority farmers, and the National Black Farmers Association, helped to successfully have this position created. It was with the intent of having an office with the powers, authorities, including settlement authority and resources to effectively manage the civil rights program. It was also the intent of the Congress. That is not presently the case. That office does not have the leadership, resources, or support it needs to do what the Coalition, the Congress and others intended. USDA civil rights should be put into "Receivership."Until such time, I appeal to you having been conferred with the powers necessary to make the real broad and systemic changes that are needed at USDA. President Lucas and Ms. Donnelly referenced them in their letters, our 25 points to bring positive change at USDA. There is nothing included in those recommendations that are in conflict with existing law, rule, regulation, or existing guidelines that could not be implemented within the next 60- 90 days. We do not want the effort in Forest Service, Region 5, California, to be a 'flash in the pan' where a few cases are settled and you are told that all is well in USDA problems solved. We would find that totally unacceptable. Our purpose is to have ALL of USDA addressed. Mr. Lucas and Ms. Donnelly has expressed to what extent the Coalition is prepared to go to see this effort through. We are asking you to work with us, to assist you in bring about the needed civil rights changes you desire at USDA.I have attached the letters that were prepared and presented to Secretary Vilsack and his senior staff by Mr.Lucas. and Ms. Donnelly. It is our expectation that these recommendations be implemented within the next four to six months. Mr. Lucas can be reached at, 856-910-2399 and Ms. Donnelly, 530-365-3456./s/Respectfully Submitted,Ronald Cotton38 years Federal ServiceSenior AdvisorUSDA, Coalition of Minority EmployeesEnclosures:cc:Senate Ag CommitteeHouse Ag CommitteeSenator Charles GrassleyValerie Jarrett, White HouseSecretary Tom Vilsack and staffLawrence Lucas, President, The CoalitionRon Cotton, Senior Advisor, The CoalitionCoalition membershipNo Fear CoalitionThe Coalition for Change (C4C)======================================================================================The White HousePresident Barack Obama1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20500May 19, 2011AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMADear Mr. President –My name is Lesa Donnelly. I am a former 24-year employee of the USDA, Forest Service and currently Vice-President of the USDA Coalition of Minority employees. The USDA Coalition of Minority Employees (The Coalition) is an employee resource group founded in 1994 that addresses issues of harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, reprisal, workplace bullying, equal pay, and other civil rights issues within the USDA. I am writing to you because we need your assistance to contact Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the serious incidents of workplace violence, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and retaliation being perpetrated against women and minorities at USDA. Secretary Vilsack will not speak with us despite numerous requests in the past two years.For years, The Coalition has worked with members of congress to address civil rights issues, meeting with senators Charles Grassley, Tom Harkin, Richard Lugar, Chuck Robb, Barbara Boxer, and Ron Wyden, to name a few, and House members, Nancy Pelosi, Bobby Scott, Grace Napolitano, John Conyers, Mike Honda, Joe Baca, Maxine Waters and many others. We have been invited to the White House three times to discuss these issues, though not during your administration. In 1998, our Coalition president, Lawrence Lucas and National Black Farmers Association president, John Boyd met with Vice President Al Gore regarding the Black Farmers' (Pigford v. USDA) lawsuit. In 2008, Mr. Lucas and I spoke at a congressional hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. My emphasis was USDA's rampant discrimination and workplace violence against women. Conditions for women have worsened since that time. Mr. Lucas addressed race discrimination and retaliation against employees and farmers. Numerous incidents of egregious discrimination and retaliation continue to plague USDA. In this letter, I will speak to issues involving Forest Service employees, but please keep in mind that the Forest Service is a microcosm of what is happening in agencies and mission areas throughout USDA. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and Farm Service Agency (FSA) are particularly problematic; along with the Secretary's own offices of Administration and Civil Rights.
In your March 12, 2011, radio address to the nation, you spoke about the importance of women's equality in the workplace and how it affects families and the nation as a whole. I was particularly interested in your comment; "It's something I care deeply about as the father of two daughters who wants to see his girls grow up in a world where there is no limits to what they can achieve."Mr. President, at this point in time you would not want your daughters to work for USDA.In addition to the problem of women being prevented from equal job opportunities, female Forest Service employees have been sexually assaulted, slapped, kicked, punched, and thrown to the ground. As unbelievable as it may seem, these male perpetrators are not being terminated, nor are they moved to different locations, causing the women to work in continual fear. For example, a male supervisor sexually harassed a woman. She refused his advances. He sexually assaulted her. For reporting it she lost her job. Another woman was so brutally assaulted by a male coworker on government property during official duty that she was forced to go on disability. Before being forced out of her job, her supervisor tried to intimidate her into dropping the complaint. The attacker was not fired. One African American woman's white male supervisor threatened to shoot her with a gun. Forest Service management protected the man and put her safety at risk. Recent workplace threats have been minimized by the agency.Sexual harassment of female firefighters and other "male-dominated" jobs is pervasive and endemic. Women are told they are not welcome and harassed until they leave. Last year a Hispanic female firefighter (a war veteran who had deployed to the Middle East) was thrown to the ground and held down by her supervisor while cutting (fire) line. She had endured racial slurs and gender harassment before this incident. The man had a prior disciplinary record but was not fired. Forest Service management has forced her to continue working with the man, knowing she still feels threatened by him. Female firefighters are forced to urinate in canteens, in front of male coworkers, and suffer other humiliations. Recently, a Native American female firefighter was forced to work in a known Hazardous Materials site and became seriously ill. When she complained the Forest Supervisor stated, "Maybe she is too fragile to work in the fire organization." She also endured racial slurs and anti-female comments. Many women and minority employees call me with similar incidents but are afraid to come forward for fear of retaliation.I ask you, should women who are being discriminated against, sexually harassed, intimidated, assaulted, and humiliated have to suffer in silence because they have children to feed and a mortgage? They do - every day at the USDA.
President Obama, how would you feel if this happened to your daughters? The Hispanic war veteran's parents are outraged that this happened to their daughter and do not understand why she was forced to work with the abuser. They worry about her safety, just as you would if it was Malia or Sasha.The majority of incidents described in this letter occurred in Region 5, California. Region 5 has more complaints than any region in the nation. While other regions such as Region 3 (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas), Region 4 (Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming), and Region 6 (Oregon, Washington) have similar problems, Region 5 is unique in that it has been under court-ordered consent decree oversight for twenty-six of the past thirty-one years (1980-2006) due to two gender-based class action lawsuits. Since the court oversight ended in 2006, conditions for women have worsened. Additionally, the female employee who was the Class Monitor of the second consent decree has been continuously retaliated against since 2006. Region 5 has sent a chilling message to women employees. They understand that if the USDA and Forest Service will retaliate against the former Class Monitor, the chances of stopping their own harassment and discrimination are grim. From November 2010 to March 2011, the former Class Monitor and I tried to work with Regional Forester Randy Moore and Chief Tom Tidwell to prevent a third class action. We advised these high level officials that we had been receiving numerous calls from women and expressed a desire to work together on ideas and solutions. They rebuffed our efforts, took absolutely no action to deal with the abuses we brought to their attention and retaliated against her further. She had no choice but to file a gender discrimination class action complaint this year. California's Region 5 is beginning its third gender class action with the same issues of the two prior lawsuits – denial of equal pay, denial of equal opportunities, hostile working conditions, and retaliation.President Obama, these women and minorities are your base. They are the folks who elected you with the belief that the new administration would give them a Secretary of Agriculture who would address civil rights violations, insure equal opportunity, and promote respect and dignity for all employees. Instead, Secretary Vilsack has given them listening sessions, task groups, assessments, and lip service. For those who speak out against the status quo he has insured their demise.
Through numerous meetings and correspondence, The Coalition has provided information on the civil rights violations to Secretary Vilsack and his staff, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan; Chiefs of Staff Karen Ross and Krysta Harden; Assistant Secretary for Administration Pearlie Reed; Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Joe Leonard; and Under Secretary Harris Sherman, among others. The Coalition provided twenty-five action items in an attempt to discuss solutions. The meetings lacked substance, Assistant Secretary Leonard refused to discuss the action items, and there has been little-to-no movement to alleviate the problems. Additionally, when we asked for investigations of civil rights violations, USDA officials instead investigated Lawrence Lucas, Ron Cotton, and myself – a clear attempt to discredit and intimidate us. We will not be intimidated and stepped up our efforts to speak with Secretary Vilsack. He refuses to meet with us.Perhaps Secretary Vilsack refuses to take tangible action to prevent and eliminate employee abuses because he believes the Jackson Lewis "Civil Rights Assessment" is sufficient. The Secretary spent millions of (tax payer) dollars for the recently released Civil Rights Assessment. It provided him with the same information that was in previous reports. Curiously, the Forest Service was not included in the assessment. In fact, the Jackson Lewis group reported that one high level USDA official interviewed by the Assessment Team described the Forest Service environment as, "military", "male dominated" and having "widespread gender discrimination and harassment." Anecdotal evidence supports this. The dominant culture denies women and minorities equal opportunity to compete for jobs and promotions, and harasses the women who complain about it. Clearly, Secretary Vilsack's "Cultural Transformation" is smoke and mirrors. It has no meaning to those women and people of color throughout the nation dealing with horrendous working conditions. And, I must add that white males are not immune to harassment and workplace bullying. Those who do not "go along to get along" are treated similarly.It is ironic that at a time when our nation's troops are spread across the globe to insure freedom, equality, and safety from violence, our government is oppressing and terrorizing its own female and minority citizens. How can the USA demand justice in other nations when we do not demand it of ourselves? The "Justice for All" poster that lines the halls of USDA offices silently mocks the employees who are denied justice.
The way women and minorities are treated in the Forest Service (and other USDA agencies) is a disgrace and Secretary Vilsack's refusal to stop this treatment is disgraceful. The abusive working conditions that have caused women and minority employees to lose their careers and jobs, endure financial ruin, lose homes and families, incur health problems, sustain nervous breakdowns, and contemplate suicide are shameful. Secretary Vilsack should be ashamed that his failure to act has destroyed people's lives.Upon inquiry, USDA officials will assure you that they are taking action to create a "cultural transformation" and an environment of "inclusiveness." They stated as much in the past. Unfortunately, their actions always focus on process and end with little in the way of substantive change. Perhaps they will use their plan to bring back Shirley Sherrod as a civil rights consultant to convince you they are taking steps to address the problems. Do not be fooled. It is not an indicator that harassment, discrimination, and retaliation do not exist or will be eliminated. It is another charade to hide the problems that do exist.President Obama, the Shirley Sherrod imbroglio was a great embarrassment to your administration. However, the Sherrod debacle pales in comparison to the deplorable conditions, the scandalous incidents, and insidious discrimination I describe here. You, Mr. President are our last and best hope to remove the obstacles preventing The Coalition from meeting with Secretary Vilsack and working with USDA to acknowledge the problems and identify solutions. By this letter we ask you to contact Secretary Vilsack to relay our concerns and set up an initial meeting. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please feel free to contact me at 530-365-3456 or Lawrence Lucas at 856-910-2399.Sincerely,/s/Lesa L. DonnellyVice-President, USDA Coalition of Minority EmployeesAttachments: April 2009 letter to Secretary VilsackJuly 2010 letter to Secretary VilsackFebruary 2011 letter to Secretary VilsackMarch 2011 letter from Senator Grassley to Senator StabenowApril 2011 letter to R5 Regional Forester Randy MooreApril 2011 letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwellcc: Senate Ag CommitteeHouse Ag CommitteeSenator Charles GrassleySenator Tom HarkinSenator Richard LugarValerie Jarrett, White HouseSecretary Tom Vilsack and staffLawrence Lucas, President, The CoalitionRon Cotton, Senior Advisor, The CoalitionCoalition membershipNo Fear CoalitionThe Coalition for Change (C4C)National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE)American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)======================================================================================
November 10, 2010TO: Secretary Tom Vilsack and StaffSUBJECT: Issues and Solutions Regarding USDA Civil RightsThe USDA Coalition of Minority Employees has on numerous occasions requested to meet with Secretary Vilsack concerning violations of USDA employees' and minority farmers civil rights by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Only once during his first few months on the job did he agreed to meet with the Coalition. His staff on occasion has met with the Coalition:Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary; Karen Ross, Chief of Staff; Joe Leonard, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; Harris Sherman, Under Secretary for Natural Resources; Edward Avalos; Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; Steve Silverman, Deputy General Counsel; Tom Tidwell, Chief, Forest Service.Yet, significant and systemic civil rights violations continue at USDA; the issues require the Secretary's immediate attention. The Secretary is responsible for the Department's civil rights violations and abuses.The Coalition has identified significant problems and proposes solutions for the following issues:1. Failure to process civil rights complaints. Institute immediately a Departmental program to resolve/reduce the backlog of complaints for both employees and minority farmers, especially, Black farmers.2. Implement programs that have already been successful. Use the Glickman/Clinton administration model to resolve complaints and implement the remaining recommendations from the Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT) and the Civil Rights Implementation Team (CRIT) Reports.3. Make the CRAT & CRIT Reports an immediate priority for implementation throughout USDA & all of its agencies. Place each of these reports back on the USDA website. Require each agency to develop an internal resolution program (utilizing a USDA prescribed process) for mediating all cases in the administrative process. This process should be offered to all employees having outstanding cases.4. Immediately begin final negotiations to settle remaining class actions. Specifically, the Herron African American, Wilson/Benton class and resolve all remaining cases in Spencer.5. Reinstate and process minority farmers, especially Black farmers, administrative complaints that were allowed to lapse during the ten years of the Bush and Obama Administrations.6. Investigate farmers' complaints. When a final decision is reached concerning allegations, send the farmers a letter to inform them of the decision made concerning the complaint.7. Fully implement recommendations in GAO Report of 2008 that contain remedies and viable options to address management deficiencies in the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.8. Implement all issues and concerns in Senator Chuck Grassley's June 15, 2010, letter to Senator Blanche Lincoln, Chairperson Senate Agriculture Committee.9. Enforce USDA's regulations on accountability. Hold management officials and employees accountable for discrimination. Include a civil rights critical element in performance evaluations for officials, managers and supervisors.10. Require the USDA Office of Civil Rights to work in cooperation and partnership with the Coalition of Minority Employees to improve civil rights, workforce diversity, and recruitment agency-wide. Joe Leonard, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, has undermined progress and cooperation between the Office of Civil Rights and the Coalition. Only in a recent meeting with the Secretary's top staff, has he shown a desire to meet with the Coalition.11. Report and process all reprisal complaints expeditiously via the USDA Office of Civil Rights so that employees do not languish and suffer in an abusive environment. The process is already in place; USDA should follow existing policies. Claims and documentation of reprisal should be maintained, documented and reported by the USDA Office of Civil Rights.12. The USDA Office of Civil Rights has failed in its management responsibilities to conduct proper civil rights oversight and compliance reviews of all its agencies. This is a requirement that must be corrected.13. No USDA employee should be forced to resign or retire as a condition for settling a complaint. The Secretary should take immediate action to prevent this double discrimination from continuing. This is a direct violation of Title VII.14. Settle the long standing Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) case of a Black female employee that was called the "N" word, "MF", "You People" and other abuses. Top Obama officials at USDA refused to settle this egregious case. Also, settle another NRCS employee case who was wrongly discriminated against, now deceased.15. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Ames, Iowa laboratories has a longhistory of racial epithets and hostile work environment that includes: reprisal, intimidation and bullying. There is no evidence that has been shared with the Coalition that top and lower management officials at those laboratories are being held accountable, for past and present abuses.16. The USDA tracking system and reporting process is an abysmal failure. Senator Grassley has said "A statutory mandate to publish reports on the participation of minority farmers and ranchers in USDA programs but those reports are riddled with unreliable data." The Coalition can only assume that the same applies to employment and record keeping as well since there are no published reports. This is not the civil rights transparency promised by the Secretary.17. Implement the GAO and 2008 Farm Bill Recommendation to hire an "Ombudsman".18. Apologize to the five Black women, in the USDA Office of Civil Rights who were falsely accused of wrong doing and subject to a humiliating investigation. This is a clear case of abuse of power. Even though their stories did not make national news, these women deserve to be accorded the same level of justice afforded Shirley Sherrod.19. USDA Office of Civil Rights must publish accurate civil rights reports and data which are treated as confidential or classified. We need more accountability and transparency.20. The USDA Forest Service remains the most abusive and discriminatory agency in all of USDA. The claims predominantly from women include: hostile work environment, reprisal, intimidation, sexual harassment, bullying and other abuses. Few officials are being held accountable. Priority should be placed on resolving cases in Forest Service Region 5.21. The USDA Forest Service during recent years paid out 4.2 million taxpayer dollars to one contract attorney to battle employees in ADR/mediation process. This money is better spent improving the working conditions of employees instead of saving the jobs of some civil rights abusers.22. Process for employee complaints (including ADR and Mediation) should be handled expeditiously. There are too many instances where resolving officials have not shown up; came without the authority to settle; declined to sign the negotiated agreement; came in bad faith; or refused the employee the right to a representative of their choosing. These intentional violations of civil rights regulations undermine the integrity and the intent of the process and further violate the employees' rights.23. Reinstate the USDA diversity recruitment programs at Iowa State University (Ames) and California Polytechnic University (Pomona).24. Hire employees in the Office of Civil Rights who know Title VI and VII. Top management for USDA civil rights are not knowledgeable of the laws and the cases that interpret these and other civil rights statutes.25. The Coalition has seen the Obama administration continue the abuses in the Office of Civil Rights. Unless there is an honest attempt to address these civil rights abuses, the Coalition recommends that the Office of Civil Rights be placed in "Receivership".It is imperative that we meet with you to assist in identifying and eliminating the underlying causes of discrimination throughout USDA. Working together we can assist in putting together a plan for preventing future individual and class complaints.Thank you.//s//Lawrence Lucas, PresidentUSDA Coalition of Minority EmployeesPhone: 856/ 910-2399Webpage: www.agcoaliton.orgCc: Coalition Representatives Nation-wide
