House panel votes to make agencies pay bias settlements

Pointing to allegations of chronic discrimination within federal agencies, the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved legislation that would hold agencies more accountable for acts of discrimination against their employees.

The bill (H.R. 169) was prompted in part by a recent General Accounting Office report indicating that discrimination complaints by federal employees have risen significantly in the past decade. The GAO found that in fiscal 1991, for example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 17,696 discrimination complaints from federal employees. In fiscal 2000, the EEOC received 24,524 such complaints--nearly a 40 percent increase--despite a smaller federal workforce.

GAO also found an increase in allegations of retaliation against federal employees who had participated in the complaint process.

"This bill will remind federal agencies of a fundamental principle that some, apparently, have forgotten--that one of the first priorities of our democracy is to respect individuals and to protect their rights," said Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the bill's chief sponsor.

The "Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2001, which the panel approved by voice vote, would require agencies to foot the bill for any judgments or settlements resulting from complaints of discrimination or retaliation against whistleblowers.

Under current law, federal agencies must pay for discrimination settlements that are reached at the administrative level, but do not have to pay for judgments and settlements if a discrimination case goes to court. Rather, those awards are paid out of the government-wide general fund.

"Because federal agencies do not have to pay for judgments and settlements if a case goes to court, they are not accountable for the misdeeds of their employees," Sensenbrenner said.

Sensenbrenner said the legislation would not affect the salaries and benefits of federal employees working for agencies that have been fined for discrimination. It also would prevent agencies from paying such fines out of their enforcement budgets.

The bill would require federal agencies to notify their employees of their rights under discrimination and whistleblower laws. It also would require each agency to report to Congress on the number of cases brought under those laws each year, the disposition of those cases, and the costs of any judgments or settlements to taxpayers.

"It gives an extra leverage and an extra pressure point for agencies, individually, to not hide under the arm or under the cover of the federal government, and holds the individual agency responsible for how it treats its employees," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who worked with Sensenbrenner and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the panel's ranking Democrat, to craft an amendment in the nature of a substitute that garnered broad support from the committee Wednesday.

"We are all in accord," Conyers said.

The substitute, which the committee adopted by voice vote, expanded the scope of the bill to ensure that it would encompass all discrimination and retaliation laws for federal employees. The substitute also expanded the bill's reporting requirements.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., tried to modify the substitute to explicitly state that federal agencies couldn't pay discrimination fines out of funds set aside for employee salaries or benefits.

"It is often the case that employee benefits or jobs are the target of agency cuts," Nadler said, adding that his amendment would "protect federal workers from the consequences of the misdeeds of their superiors."

Sensenbrenner opposed Nadler's amendment, saying it was unnecessary and probably would prevent the House Government Reform Committee from waiving its jurisdiction over the bill, thereby delaying floor consideration.

Nadler withdrew his amendment after Sensenbrenner agreed to clarify in the committee report that the bill would not authorize agencies to reduce salaries, benefits, or the size of their staffs in order to pay discrimination fines.