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| Special Counsel Scott Bloch is being investigated by the Office of U.S. Personnel Management. Bloch has said that federal employees are not protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation. | |
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By ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG
Oct 20 2005, 3:30 PM |
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After more than a year of protests from gay federal employees and members of Congress, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has opened an investigation into Special Counsel Scott Bloch, who has said that federal employees are not protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
-IMG-As special counsel, Bloch is charged with upholding anti-discrimination laws and protecting whistleblowers. But Bloch is guilty of violating the very rules he is supposed to enforce, according to a complaint filed in March against him by the Human Rights Campaign, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and some of Bloch’s staff members.
The Inspector General’s office announced this week it would investigate the complaint against Bloch. Inspector General Patrick E. McFarland will lead the probe the allegations. It is unclear how the investigation will be conducted or what its scope will be.
One of the attorneys representing those who filed the complaint wrote in a letter dated Oct. 18 to the Office of Personnel Management: “If this investigation is to have any credibility at all, it is crucial that your office provide my clients with the reassurances … regarding scope and conduct of your inquiry.”
The Office of Personnel Management was not available for comment. An OSC spokesperson said the office would have no comment.
trong>No responsibility for gays
Since Bloch joined the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in January 2004, he has claimed that his office has no responsibility to protect workers who are discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.
Shortly after joining the OSC, he removed all mentions on the OSC Web site about sexual orientation discrimination, including information from a flier and a news release from 2003 about a sexual orientation discrimination case settled with the IRS.
“It is not something I can prosecute in my agency,” Bloch told members of Congress earlier this year. “I am limited by the enforcement statutes that you give me.”
Bloch’s critics charge he has turned back more than 20 years of protections. The Civil Reform Act of 1978 prohibits discrimination against a federal employee or applicant “on the basis of conduct which does not adversely affect the performance of the employee.” This has been interpreted to protect gay federal workers since the early 1980s.
The Bush White House has reaffired that sexual orientation discrimination is prohibited in the federal workplace.
Legislation clarifying existing discrimination law has been reported out of the House Committee on Government Reform and is awaiting action by the full house, said Chris Labonte, HRC’s legislative director.
“Scott Bloch is not following the law in protecting people based on sexual orientation,” Labonte said. “He is acting like a rogue employee against the wishes of the administration and the interpretation of the Office of Personnel Management.”
trong>Gays targeted by Bloch?
According to the complaint, gay employees are targeted and allegations of sexual orientation discrimination are not investigated. Two openly gay employees were selected for forced transfer to Detroit, while an employee who agreed with Bloch’s interpretation of the discrimination law was promoted, the complaint claims.
“I hope the investigation will look at the systematic way Bloch has both removed sexual orientation and really been hostile to employees of OSC who were not supportive of the radical changes he was bringing into federal employment law,” said Len Hirsch of the group Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Employees of the Federal Government, or GLOBE.
In one case detailed in the complaint, a Forest Service employee was
allegedly dismissed because he was a whistleblower and gay.
According to the complaint, the personnel officer who created the trumped up charges against him told a witness, in reference to the Forest Service employee, “Don’t you just hate these fucking faggots?”
The OSC did not investigate his claim. OSC only said the statement was “offensive,” according to the complaint.
“This was a dereliction of duty,” Labonte said. “The OSC had an obligation to investigate this claim and they refused to do so.”
Claims based on sexual orientation discrimination were not the only ones dismissed without investigation, according to the complaint.
More than 1,000 whistleblower complaints were dismissed without investigation, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER. Employees were barred from speaking with a whistleblower if the complaint appeared unclear, he said.
“He has yet to go forward and directly litigate on a single whistleblower case,” Ruch said. “By contrast, Bloch has gone out of his way to intervene where he has no jurisdiction.”
OSC staff members were also prohibited from talking to members of Congress or any agency officials who contacted the office with questions about the federal policy on sexual orientation discrimination, Ruch said.
“If an agency is looking for guidance, it’s absurd that OSC lawyers can’t elaborate,” Ruch said.
While Bloch was supposed to enforce merit-based hiring across federal agencies, he converted several OSC positions to at-will appointments, Ruch said. This included hiring recent graduates from the conservative, Catholic law school Ave Maria, as well as hiring his child’s former headmaster from boarding school, the complaint details.
Bloch was appointed to a five-year term and can only be removed if the president finds cause, Ruch said.
“Unless he chooses to resign he’ll stay there,” Ruch said. “The town arsonist has been appointed chief of the fire department.”
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg can be reached at eweill-greenberg@washblade.com.
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