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The U.S. Department of Energy has OVER hired blacks by 68%, Native Americans by 180%, and Asian Pacific Islanders by 41%. DOE paid bonuses of $10,000 to $20,000 for NOT hiring whites! |  |
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U.S. Dept. of Energy Reverse Discrimination |
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Argonne Lab (Dept. of Energy) Sued for Reverse Discrimination (updated 07-22-02)
The lawsuit against DOE charges the following:
TITLE: Lawsuit cites 'superbonuses' for minority hiring as racist
The Times reports that "[plaintiff John Kasprowicz] said STS exists primarily to phase out non-minority employees. Once there, his workload "diminished to the point of nothing," and he took a part-time job selling shoes at a Chicago Marshall Field's store to relieve his boredom. STS employees believed they were targeted for elimination under reduction in force policies. "The department's nickname, even among supervisors, was 'the rif-ing pool,'" Mr. Kasprowicz said. "They made no secret they wanted us to retire." The Washington Times reports that the strategy has apparently been effective: the STS (rif-ing pool) office started with 47 "dinosaurs" and so far 29 have quit or retired in frustration. Today there are only 18 employees remaining in the STS office. The Times story continues: "According to seven men who filed a federal lawsuit against former Energy Secretary Frederico F. Pena in Chicago, project manager Anibal Taboas and others received $10,000 "superbonuses" for hiring, training and promoting minorities. From 1989 to 1993, the suit claims, 26 out of 29 of Mr. Taboas' new hires were non-whites." One of the plaintiffs, Tom Balamut, as reported by the Washington Times, said that "Mr. Taboas is "a racist and a discriminator who received substantial bonuses." The lawsuit also alleges that Mr. Taboas sexually harassed female staff and punished those women who complained. The Times also reports that plaintiff John Kasprowicz alleges that Mr. Taboas "gave [minorities] preferential training opportunities [after hiring them] so on paper they quickly became the most qualified candidates for promotion." The Times reports that plaintiff Kasprowicz had to send copies of his time sheets to the Department of Energy's inspector general showing he was being paid over $90,000 a year to do almost nothing besides checking his e-mail, at which point he was finally transferred in 2001 to a job assignment with some actual work. According to the lawsuit, which was originally filed in 1997, Kasprowicz, Balamut, and the other 5 plaintiffs are suing for back pay, promotions and $300,000 each in damages. Their case is expected to go to trial by the end of 2002. The Washington Times reports that a Department of Energy spokesperson, Mr. Quirke, said that DOE's diversity goals "have never been quotas". While the "diversity bonuses" have been reduced to only $2,000 to $3,000 today, Mr. Quirke said "We have goals to hire, train and promote minorities. To my dismay, those $10,000 superbonuses lasted only three years." [Emphasis added.] (Excerpted from the Sean Salai story titled "Lawsuit cites 'superbonuses' for minority hiring as racist" which appeared in the Washington Times on Monday July 22, 2002) Last known link to the Washington Times story: TITLE: Ready to work, but nothing to do all day "John Kasprowicz went to his job as a geologist at Argonne National Laboratory every day for nearly two years and did nothing. "When he asked his bosses at the U.S. Department of Energy for something to do to justify his $95,000-plus paycheck, they told him something would come along. "But for 22 months, nothing did--that is, he says, until he sent copies of his time sheets showing he was doing nothing all day to the DOE inspector general's office in Washington, D.C. "When the inspectors started making inquiries, Kasprowicz, 46, was transferred to a different department, where he was given work. "Some of his colleagues weren't so lucky. According to the Sun-Times, Kasprowicz "was told by a boss that it was unlikely he'd be promoted because he did not meet diversity goals. This was despite outstanding performance ratings Kasprowicz had posted every year. "At the same time, the lawsuit claims, women and minorities with less experience were being promoted.
"At the same time, according to the suit, the manager of this "dead end" division, [Justin] Zamirowski, denied these employees training and travel opportunities and up-to-date equipment. "[One affected employee, Frederick Wysk], an officer of a national engineering society, was told he couldn't take time off to go to a professional meeting, even though the society was picking up the tab. "This was when I was sitting there doing nothing," Wysk said. "It's a Catch-22," Kasprowicz said. "They say you need training to get promoted, but then they don't give you a chance to get the training." "In 1995, Kasprowicz and about 44 other employees, mostly white men, were transferred to a newly formed division at Argonne, which he said turned out to be a bureaucratic limbo in which more than half of them weren't given any significant new work. "They stick you in a place where you're going to waste away, and sooner or later you leave," Kasprowicz said. "This was the process they used to eliminate us." (Excerpted from the Art Golab story titled "Ready to work, but nothing to do all day" which appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday, July 14, 2002) Last known link to the Chicago Sun-Times story:
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