Comment Number: OL-10502683
Received: 3/2/2005 3:23:21 PM
Subject: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment
Title: National Security Personnel System
CFR Citation: 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901
No Attachments

Comments:

Prove to us that Reverse Discrimination based on racial and gender quotas is not part of Pay for Performance. Posted on Fri, Feb. 18, 2005 Robins bias lawsuit settled for $880,000 By Becky Purser Telegraph Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - The settlement of a "reverse discrimination" lawsuit includes the payment of approximately $880,000 to former and current white male Robins Air Force Base workers. Andrew Coffman, one of the Atlanta attorneys who represented the plaintiffs, said Thursday that the five workers who initially filed the lawsuit will receive about $100,000 each. The four remaining litigants will receive about $45,000 each, Coffman said. The settlement amount also includes payment of attorneys' fees, he said. Robins spokesman John Birdsong declined to comment on the settlement Thursday, referring all questions to the U.S. Justice Department. Mark Miller, spokesman for the civil division of the Justice Department, also declined to comment Thursday. "A lot of people - base employees especially - didn't think white males had rights and that white males couldn't beat the government, but we did win," plaintiff Willie Barber of Warner Robins said Thursday. "We did not just beat Robins Air Force Base, we beat the entire Air Force and the U.S. Justice Department." Workers claimed that the Air Force gave female and minority workers preferential treatment in annual performance appraisals based on an outdated affirmative action policy, Coffman said. The Air Force was caught "red-handed," Coffman said. The case was based in part on supervisor e-mails that had been intercepted by a Robins employee in April 2001. The e-mails appeared to direct higher rating categories for two minority males and lower rating categories for five white males. The rating categories were tied to promotions, bonuses and job security. "This is plain and simple discrimination," Coffman said. He said he hopes the case will have a far-reaching effect. The lawsuit was dismissed from U.S. District Court after plaintiff and defense attorneys agreed to reach a settlement and filed a stipulation of dismissal Feb. 8. The Air Force affirmatively denied any wrongdoing, which it stipulated as a part of the negotiated settlement, Coffman said.