Black agents sue Secret Service for alleged racial bias

Agent Ray Moore: 'The glass ceiling is firmly intact ... and they do not care to move it'

Agency counters that most large offices are headed by minorities

May 3, 2000
Web posted at: 1:53 p.m. EDT (1753 GMT)

In this story: Complaint filed against Treasury Diversity training required RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Alleging a "racially hostile work environment" at the Secret Service, a group of 10 black agents filed a discrimination lawsuit against the agency Wednesday and asked a federal court to expand the suit to include virtually every African American who has ever served in the department.

"We have a situation where we have the most highly qualified, the best trained of federal law enforcement agents, they are willing to take a bullet for the president, they are prepared to take a bullet for the vice president ... (but) they cannot get a simple promotion to a position that they deserve," said John Relman, an attorney for the 10 current and former agents.

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Relman said there is evidence of discrimination at the highest levels of the Secret Service but that the agency continues to ignore the problem.

"The stain of racial discrimination seems to have found its way onto the White House grounds," said Relman. "Nothing has been done, the (Secret) Service has buried its head in the sand, has refused to talk, has denied the existence of any discrimination."

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, seeks up to $300,000 in back pay and other compensation for each agent. It also seeks a court order directing the Secret Service to end unfair practices, the plaintiffs' attorneys said.

"I've had 16 consecutive years in the Secret Service, with 16 consecutive years of positive evaluations, but I cannot get promoted," said plaintiff Ray Moore. "The glass ceiling is firmly intact ... and they do not care to move it."

In a draft copy of the suit obtained by CNN, the agents said that from at least 1974 to the present, the Secret Service maintained a "racially hostile work environment" and discriminated against its African-American agents in hiring, promotions and assignments.

Black agents are given less prestigious assignments, transferred to less desirable locations and face retaliation when they complain about racial slurs uttered by white agents, the suit alleges.

Complaint filed against Treasury

The lawsuit mirrors a complaint that black agents filed in February with the Treasury Department -- the Secret Service's parent department. That complaint has not yet been resolved.

A Secret Service spokesman said Tuesday evening he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it. But he defended the Secret Service's record.

"We're proud of our record on diversity issues and we want our employees to have a sense of fair play when it comes to both hiring and the promotional process," said Assistant Special Agent In Charge James E. Mackin.

Diversity training required

Of the approximately 2,500 special agents, 700 are minorities, including 230 African Americans. Two of the agency's seven assistant directors are African American. And, Mackin said, of the 11 largest field offices in the country, seven are headed by minorities, including four African Americans.

All Secret Service employees are required to attend a three-day diversity program, he said.

Black agents say their complaints of mistreatment date back to at least early 1974, when 35 African American agents sent a letter to the director of the Secret Service saying they were "not included in the mainstream of the entire operations (sic) of the Service." At that time, only 36 of the 1,209 special agents were black.

The agents again complained about discriminatory treatment in 1977, 1987 and 1993, the lawsuit says.

Agents say they previously refrained from filing suit because administrators continually offered assurances that their grievances would be addressed.

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United States Secret Service
U.S. Treasury Department
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