Judge certifies black Secret Service agents in discrimination case

Judge certifies black Secret Service agents in discrimination case


2/27/2013




By Brendan O'Brien



Feb 27 (Reuters) - A federal judge has certified a class of black U.S. Secret Service agents who have accused the Department of Homeland Security of racial discrimination over promotions.



Judge Richard Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday ruled the agents have met the requirements for class certification in their suit against the department, which oversees the Secret Service.



The lawsuit, brought by eight current and former agents on behalf of African-American agents who were denied promotion, accuses the department under Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.



The plaintiffs claim the Secret Service Special Agent Merit Promotion Program, an evaluation system used to determine promotions, had been skewed against African-Americans from 1995 to 2005.



The department did not respond to a request for comment.



In a court filing in January 2012, the department said African-American secret service agents score similarly in the evaluation system to non-African-Americans and were selected for promotion at similar rates.



The department also said that African-American secret service agents received promotions earlier in their careers than non-African-Americans.



"This evidence conclusively refutes plaintiffs' overarching claim that the Secret Service has refused to eliminate racism from the fabric of its promotion process," it said in the court document.



In his ruling on Monday, the judge also denied a defense motion to exclude the testimony of Charles Mann, who testified during an earlier hearing that the system has a statistically significant adverse impact on African-American agents.



The plaintiffs, who originally filed suit in May 2000, moved for class certification three times before but were denied because they did not meet the required criteria.



Attorneys for the both the plaintiffs and the defendant could not be reached for comment.



The case is Reginald Moore v. Janet Napolitano, No. 00-953.



For the plaintiffs: John Peter Relman, Megan Cacace and Jennifer Klar of Relman, Dane & Colfax, and Thomas Widor, Erica Knievel and Desmond Hogan of Hogan Lovells.



For the defendant: Edith Shine, Peter Pfaffenroth and Marina Utgoff Braswell of the U.S. Attorney's office.