EEOC Axed Whistleblower

[On The Spot]

Investigator Ricardo Jones was employed with the New York City Branch Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) when he contacted The Black Star News to tell anyone who would listen about “The EEOC is not investigating African-American complaints from New York to North Carolina.”

Having Knowledge of what happens to whistleblowers I contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ).  In my September 5th article I stated the EEOC would fire Jones as well.

http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/135/ARTICLE/5982/2009-09-05.html

When I contacted the EEOC for comment, District Director Spencer H. Lewis would not respond to the allegations made by Investigator Jones.  “I cannot deny or confirm anything about an employee at the EEOC,” Lewis stated.  However, two days before Thanksgiving Day, in a gutless and tasteless act, Jones was placed on administrative leave pending termination.  This type of action is the norm for an agency as large as the EEOC, but the EEOC by law is supposed to be against such treatment and not treat their employees in a discriminating way.

The day Investigator Jones made up his mind to stand up and dare to become a whistleblower against EEOC, i.e., exposing his supervisors and naming others – his termination was well in the making.  Where was Jones’ job protection?  What happened to the “Whistle Blower Protection Law for this federal employee? Does this law apply to Jones being an EEOC employee? 

He was put on administrative leave pending separation on November 24, 2009. He called it "effectively my last day at the EEOC,” and added "the fight goes on, there’s just no longer anybody who will stand up for Black people at the New York District Office EEOC.”

Jones not only exposed the New York branch EEOC, he may have exposed the system as a whole across this country.

This fight should not be his own because this fight is for anyone who is employed or has filed a complaint under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act with the EEOC. Many employees have witnessed their complaints not being enforced according to the laws of the EEOC as it is written; now we have an insider telling us why. 

“District Director Lewis is an African American and Enforcement Supervisor; Electra Yourke is a European American who both equally could care less about African American complaints. They are the ones who should be removed from the NYDO followed by an independent investigation,” Jones stated.

“Jones is not the one who should be shown the door for exposing the truth,” said another EEOC insider who wanted their name and title to be withheld. 

Employment discrimination is not news to the people who work at the EEOC and the EEOC is no different from any other employment agency.  “This is something that is not unusual.  I have been dealing with these things over the years,” stated Attorney Johnnie Louis Johnson, III, who is representing Jones. “We are going to appeal to the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB).  There is a process that has to be done.  They need to notify him and we need to have an opportunity to object to anything that they have and provide a response, which they have not done,” Johnson stated.

Firing an employee during the holiday season can be viewed as a mentally calculated act, which may have a serious effect on an employee as well as the employee’s family.  “We all have responsibility for the total amount of Black people who were terminated, laid-off, dismissed, downsized and positions eliminated.  Call it what you may, this was race discrimination at its best!  Our government took payment for the selling of Black people,” Jones lamented.

“They have not followed the procedures,” Attorney Johnson stated speaking about the EEOC and added, “We are going to get to the bottom of it and we are going to take all the appropriate actions necessary.” 

Jones was employed with the EEOC for nine years witnessing mainly African Americans’ EEOC discrimination complaints being routinely thrown aside as, “Unfounded,” and many not investigated at all. 

Jones contacted The Black Star News hoping to shed some light on a federal agency that is funded millions of dollars due to the numerous Civil Rights’ complaints by African Americans because of the unlawful and illegal treatment in the work place, which is the reason the EEOC laws were put in place.  It is ironic the EEOC is being accused of the very laws it is supposed to enforce.   Now where does Jones go to file his own employment discrimination complaint against the EEOC?

Exposing the EEOC was not a hard task; it just took an insider to speak out against what many have already known and complained about.  When Jones contacted me and said the EEOC was not doing investigations and just handing out, “Right to sue letters,” it was not a surprise.  In fact, ten years ago at a videotaped EEOC hearing put together by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, I stated that the EEOC was defunct, which aired on the city’s cable station and no action was taken.

The race discrimination bill was enacted after African Americans were being discriminated against by employment agencies and by many employers after being hired. However, the bill did not state what ethnic group would enforce the bill or if it should make a difference. 

Jones said there are many employees at the EEOC who do not know what discrimination is. “NYC, the largest Black community in the country has one Black trial attorney and Boston also has one Black trial attorney. Two Black trial attorneys between NYC and Boston, this agency is a Kangaroo Court against black people,” Jones stated.

There has never been a real interest to combat employment discrimination in the workplace against nonwhite people.  “The EEOC knows it is virtually impossible to win a discrimination complaint against a government Agency. The agency will tie up their attorneys and staff to beat you into submission,” this is sadly a true statement and a shame the author remains unknown.
There is more to Jones’ story, which I will report when the EEOC send him his termination letter. 

Other complaints have also come forward who complaints are still being handled by the New York EEOC and two Virginia cases awaiting a finding. Stay tune for more.

As we move forward in the twenty-first century and witnessing the first African-American president being elected – race has been highlighted more than ever. People call themselves Americans, then try to undercut America because of their hatred.  Then a member of congress interrupts the president while he is addressing the nation; then the word, “Negro,” somehow gets added on the U.S. Census application. 

These acts are not by mistake and come about because, “Race matters,” something we have to deal with head on and right now.