Witnesses at a House Civil Service Subcommittee hearing last week charged that in the course of implementing diversity policies, many agencies are violating the rights of employees and failing to investigate equal employment opportunity complaints.
"Careers have been derailed, morale has been devastated, personnel costs have skyrocketed, and public resources and safety have been put at risk due to the imposition of bizarre hiring and promotion decisions," Rep. Wally Herger, R-Ca., said at the hearing.
Herger singled out the U.S. Forest Service for criticism, saying the agency fails to hire on the basis of merit for many of its positions. Herger said that notes he had obtained from a Forest Service civil rights action group state that "there are many factors involved in the selection process, and the objective is to select a qualified person, not necessarily the most qualified."
Ronald Stewart, Forest Service deputy chief of programs and legislation, said the agency's policies are a response to court orders resulting from a lawsuit filed in 1972 by a Forest Service employee who claimed gender discrimination. A class action suit directed the Forest Service to ensure that women occupied 43 percent of positions in every series and grade by 1986.
Stewart said that the Forest Service has 37 percent fewer open EEO cases than it had a year ago, and has seen a 32 percent decline in the number of complaints filed during the same time period.
G. Jerry Shaw, general counsel to the Senior Executives Association, stressed the importance of agencies giving every individual the opportunity to be employed, promoted and rewarded on the basis of their knowledge, skills and abilities.
"When interest groups argue that their percentage of employment in the federal workplace should be in exact proportion to their employment in the private sector, or to their representation in the population, they must first recognize that the basis for promotion in the federal government is merit," Shaw said.
John Fonte, an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said that the government's current attempt to achieve gender and ethnic proportionalism is not compatible with the merit system.
"Real non-discrimination, making sure that all occupations in the federal civil service are open to all Americans, is the opposite of 'diversity'," he said.
Lynn Cole, a lawyer representing Angelo Troncoso, a Cuban-American who alleged he was denied promotions in the IRS even though he ranked number one under the IRS merit ranking system, said the EEO claim and investigation system is "riddled with conflicts of interest" and doesn't offer any protection from discrimination.
In June, Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1997, which would prohibit discrimination and preferential treatment on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex in federal actions. The House is currently considering the bill.
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