December, 18 2008, 01:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Racism at Browner's EPA?
WASHINGTON
AP reports "Carol Browner ... will lead a White House council on energy
and climate. Browner, the longest-serving EPA administrator in history,
headed the agency during the Clinton administration's two terms."
Time magazine, in its section of "Quotes About Browner," features this:
"She wasn't at all sympathetic to complaints about civil rights abuses.
We were treated like Negroes, to use a polite term. We were put in our
place."
-- Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a former EPA employee whose complaints of a
"racially toxic" environment there led to the signing of the
Notification and Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation
Act of 2001. (Time, Feb. 23, 2001)
MARSHA COLEMAN-ADEBAYO
Coleman-Adebayo said today: "It is very disturbing to me on the heels
of my being illegally fired, not fired for cause, not fired for
performance issues, but because of health concerns -- that the very
woman I prevailed against in court is being elevated to a White House
decision-level position -- what message does this send to others in the
federal government who are considering exposing corruption or
discrimination? Should government managers take comfort in the fact
that employees can prevail against them in federal court, Congress can
unanimously condemn their leadership and pass a law to stop them, and
they still may be tapped for a high-level position? How tragic."
For further background, see:
News coverage:
Time magazine, "How the EPA Was Made to Clean Up Its Own Stain -- Racism"
News release:
"EPA Whistleblower Illegally Fired While Carol Browner Energy Czar Soars Through Transition"
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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