Profile in Effectiveness

Last week's New York Times profile of Spencer H. Lewis Jr., the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's New York office, is one of those studies in quiet, earnest commitment to serving the public good that reinforces one's faith in the country's civil service.

Lewis is in the news because his office issued a report finding that New York Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders was a victim of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination by the team's head coach, Isiah Thomas. That determination paved the way for a lawsuit by Sanders that recently resulted in a jury awarding her $11.6 million in damages.

Even for those of us who cover the federal government on a regular basis, it's easy to focus on stories of employees who run rental subsidy scams or rip the heads off ducks. It's nice to get a reminder that stories like Lewis's are a lot more typical of the people who devote their careers to federal service.