A
high-level
gay
employee
at
the
U.S.
Office
of
Special
Council
was
among
seven
OSC
employees
that
received
termination
notices
last
week
after
refusing
to
be
transferred
to
distant
cities
in
a
staff
shakeup
that
critics
have
called
a
purge
of
employees
considered
disloyal
by
OSC
director
Scott
Bloch.
A
second
gay
employee
resigned
to
take
a
job
outside
OSC
rather
than
accept
the
transfer
ordered
by
Bloch,
according
to
sources
familiar
with
OSC.
Sources
familiar
with
the
agency
said
Bloch
targeted
a
total
of
12
employees
—
including
the
only
two
known
gay
staffers
—
for
involuntary
transfers,
in
part,
because
they
disagreed
with
his
decision
to
curtail
OSC’s
role
in
investigating
and
adjudicating
complaints
of
employment
discrimination
against
gay
federal
workers.
Congress
created
OSC
to
protect
federal
employees
from
discrimination
as
well
as
retaliation
in
cases
where
they
come
forward
as
“whistleblowers”
to
disclose
government
corruption
or
mismanagement.
President
Clinton
assigned
OSC
a
new
role
of
adjudicating
sexual
orientation
discrimination
cases
after
he
issued
an
executive
order
banning
discrimination
against
gay
employees
in
the
federal
workforce.
Last
month,
Bloch
informed
the
employees
named
in
the
transfer
order
that
they
had
10
days
to
decide
whether
to
accept
the
transfers.
Seven
were
to
be
reassigned
to
a
proposed
new
OSC
field
office
in
Detroit;
four
were
to
be
sent
to
an
existing
field
office
in
Dallas;
and
one
was
to
be
sent
to
a
field
office
in
Oakland,
Calif.
According
to
OSC
sources,
five
employees
initially
accepted
the
reassignments
and
seven
declined
and
are
now
in
the
process
of
being
dismissed
from
their
jobs.
The
federal
watchdog
group
Public
Employees
for
Environmental
Responsibility,
which
has
monitored
the
OSC
developments,
said
one
of
the
five
employees
who
initially
accepted
the
transfer
has
since
obtained
a
new
job
outside
OSC
and
resigned
from
OSC.
That
employee
was
one
of
the
two
gay
OSC
staffers
named
by
Bloch
in
the
reassignment
order.
OSC
spokesperson
Cathy
Deeds
disputed
claims
that
the
reorganization
was
part
of
a
purge
of
employees.
She
told
the
Washington
Post
that
the
mandatory
transfers
were
part
of
a
staff
reorganization
aimed
at
improving
OSC’s
ability
to
process
employee
discrimination
cases.
Deeds
and
Bloch
have
not
responded
to
repeated
requests
for
comment
by
the
Blade.
Six
members
of
Congress
last
week
called
on
the
Government
Accounting
Office
to
open
an
investigation
into
Bloch’s
reorganization
action.
Others
have
called
on
the
Senate
Committee
on
Governmental
Affairs,
which
has
jurisdiction
over
OSC,
to
conduct
an
oversight
hearing
on
Bloch’s
actions
since
taking
over
OSC
last
year.
Critics
say
Bloch
is
seeking
to
stack
OSC
with
conservative,
religious
“cronies,”
some
of
whom
he
has
retained
as
consultants
through
no-bid
contracts.
President
Bush
named
Bloch
as
head
of
OSC
in
late
2003
and
he
began
his
tenure
there
in
Jan.
2004.
Prior
to
starting
at
OSC,
he
worked
as
deputy
director
of
the
Justice
Department’s
Task
Force
for
Faith-Based
&
Community
Initiatives.
Almost
immediately
after
starting
work
at
OSC,
Bloch
removed
all
references
to
OSC’s
role
in
addressing
sexual
orientation
discrimination
cases
from
the
OSC
Web
site
and
from
OSC
discrimination
complaint
forms.
Bloch
initially
said
he
did
not
believe
OSC
had
legal
authority
to
adjudicate
gay
cases,
despite
assertions
by
legal
experts
that
existing
federal
law
barred
sexual
orientation
discrimination
in
the
federal
workforce.
In
response
to
complaints
by
members
of
Congress,
the
White
House
issued
a
statement
saying
President
Bush
stands
behind
the
Clinton
administration
policy
of
prohibiting
workplace
discrimination
against
gay
federal
employees.
Bloch
responded
by
saying
he
would
abide
by
this
policy,
but
the
gay
federal
workers
group
GLOBE
has
said
Bloch
has
failed
to
take
adequate
steps
to
do
so.
“Since
Scott
Bloch
came
on
board
at
OSC,
sexual
orientation
discrimination
claims
have
been
dead
on
arrival,”
said
one
of
the
OSC
employees
ensnared
in
Bloch’s
reorganization,
who
spoke
on
the
condition
of
anonymity.
“I
believe
it
was
his
motive
all
along
to
get
rid
of
people
tied
in
any
way
to
the
past
administration
or
people
who
disagree
with
him
on
the
sexual
orientation
policy,”
the
employee
said.
Another
source
familiar
with
OSC
said,
“cases
involving
sexual
orientation
discrimination
are
treated
differently
than
any
other
complaints”
under
Bloch’s
tenure.
According
to
this
source,
gay
cases
are
“initially
reviewed
by
career
employees
in
the
complaint’s
examining
unit
and
then
sent
to
one
of
Bloch’s
political
assistants
for
review.”
The
complaints
examining
unit
serves
as
the
intake
center,
which
decides
whether
or
not
cases
will
be
investigated,
the
source
said.
“In
all
other
cases,
the
career
staff
in
the
complaints
examining
unit
would
not
be
reporting
to
a
political
assistant,
they
would
be
reporting
to
a
career
supervisor,”
the
source
said.
“This
is
very
unusual.”
Prior
to
Bloch’s
appointment,
the
Special
Counsel,
which
is
Bloch’s
title,
and
his
or
her
political
staff,
“rarely
became
involved
at
all
in
cases
at
this
stage,
much
less
reviewing
them,”
said
the
source.
Bloch
succeeded
lesbian
attorney
Elaine
Kaplan,
a
Clinton
appointee
who
completed
a
fixed,
five-year
term
as
OSC
head
in
2003.
Bloch’s
term
as
OSC
director
ends
in
2009.
An
attorney
representing
some
of
the
OSC
employees
targeted
for
the
transfers
said
last
month
that
Bloch
has
legal
authority
to
issue
mandatory
job
reassignments
under
federal
personnel
rules
and
statutes.
However,
three
government
watchdog
groups
that
criticized
Bloch
for
issuing
the
transfer
orders
said
mandatory
reassignments
are
permissible
only
if
they
are
based
...
