Racial harrassment rife at EPA branch

PEER reports, “In a blistering ruling the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Commission has found that racially ‘discriminatory and demeaning comments and adverse treatment” were ’severe’ and ‘permeated the workplace’ in an enforcement branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” An example of the complaints of EPA Special Agent George De Los Santos, who is based in the Criminal Investigations Division office in Dallas:

* His supervisor accusing him of stealing license plates and reselling them for profit in Mexico;
* Women co-workers were routinely referred to as “pussies”;
* Native American co-workers were called names like “Squatting Eagle” and “Two Dogs F__king” while an African-American colleague was ridiculed as mentally slow.

De Los Santos’ supervisor called his conduct “Special Agent grab-assing” and said he needed to quit complaining and “act like a man.” The EEO Commission found that many of these offensive comments “occurred in front of supervisors immediately after a meeting about EEO issues, demonstrating that agency officials did not take EEO issues seriously.”