July 5, 2011 C4C

The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C) P.O. Box 142 Washington DC 20044

VIA Facsimile 202-224-1651 The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Cardin: Last month, several members of the Coalition For Change (C4C), Inc., received an email from your office regarding legislation you and Senator Joseph Lieberman recently introduced pertaining to allegations of Russias deteriorating human rights record. According to your news release, the Cardin-Lieberman legislation would punish international human rights abuse and corruption. Many of our members, a majority of whom are your constituents, were appalled and found this legislation to be rather hypocritical. It should not be misinterpreted that our membership is in favor of human right violations or insensitive to human rights violations around the world. As either present or former employees of the Federal government, our members have been subjected to human rights violations known as employment discrimination and retaliation while serving their country as civil servants. During the past ten years, it has become commonplace for persons of color to be terminated from Federal employment having engaged in so-called protected activity. After formally filing employment discrimination complaints with their respective agency, complainants are then labeled as poor performers, placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and then terminated at the end of the PIP. We have members who were employed with the Federal government for over twenty years, served with unblemished records but were targeted and eventually terminated after formally filing employment discrimination complaints. On two separate occasions, the C4C filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests1 with the Office of Personnel Management seeking termination and Reduction-In-Force data by race. As we mentioned in our March 8, 2010 FOIA request, OPM tracks terminations by such categories as age, date, location, gender, length of service, salary level, occupation, pay plan and grade, work schedule and type of appointment. Conspicuously missing from this list is termination data by race. The C4C suspects that this information is not being publicly reported and that OPM to-date has been noncompliant with our FOIA request because the data would be alarming and expose what many of our members are all too aware of, that persons of color have been disproportionately terminated from Federal employment--in many instances, simply because these employees courageously filed employment discrimination complaints against their managers. Maybe you could use the power and influence of your office to pressure OPM Director John Berry and his staff to release this information.
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Tanya Ward Jordan L.O.R., B, A., M.S. Founder Philip Taylor B.A., M.P.A. Acting President Willie Berry, B.S. Treasurer Michael Castelle, Sr. Diversity Chair Milton Hill B.S., M.A., M.P.A. Outreach Chair Ricardo Jones, Sr. EEO Chair Arthuretta Holmes-Martin B.S., M.S. Mental and Spiritual Well-Being Chair Cecil Paris PMP, B.S. Management and Organization Chair Anthony Perry Communications Chair CIO Cert. B.A., B.B.A, M.S. Paulette Taylor A.A., B.A. Civil Rights Chair Diane Williams B.A., M.S., J.D. Legislative Research Chair

www.coailtion4change.org C4C@coalition4change.org 1-866-737-9783

FOIA requests dated March 8, 2010 and October 5, 2010 were filed with OPM.

Senator Ben Cardin Page 2 As I am sure you can understand by now, this is why our members were appalled upon learning of your legislation to highlight and punish human rights abuses in another sovereign nation. Since the C4C was established, we have fought tirelessly to expose the problem of employment discrimination and retaliation occurring in the Federal government. Despite our efforts to bring this problem to the attention of Members of Congress and their staff, we have been unsuccessful to get the Congress to hold hearings on this critical issue. Furthermore, we have been unable to find a Member willing to introduce legislation to strengthen existing employment laws and to hold Federal managers accountable for their misconduct by imposing tough penalties (e.g., fines and termination) against managers who violate employees civil rights. It is because of this neglect and insensitivity, by Members of Congress to support fair and equal employment opportunity in Federal employment, that our members are appalled that our United States senator with a large constituency of Federal employees, would meddle in the affairs of another country while failing to address the flagrant abuse of his constituents who serve or once served as civil servants. During the past several years, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and its Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management have held hearings on such issues as Improving Federal Employment of People with Disabilities (February 6, 2011); Strengthening the Senior Executive Service: A Review of Challenges Facing the Governments Leadership Corp (March 29, 2011); Work-Life Programs: Attracting, Retaining and Empowering the Federal Workforce (May 4, 2011); Inspiring Students to Federal Service (June 21, 2011; and two hearings since 2009 examining Federal recruitment. Not one hearing has been held by the full committee or its subcommittee on racial employment discrimination, retaliation and problems of gross mismanagement at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Why is this committee being derelict in addressing this important issue? To get the attention of the U.S. Congress, do you recommend that the C4C contact Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urging them to introduce legislation to their Federal Assembly condemning racial employment discrimination in the United States Federal government? In closing, to give you additional background on the C4C, we were established in 2008 as a public interest group consisting of current and former Federal employees who are experiencing or have experienced the indignity of employment discrimination and retaliation by Federal managers--Federal managers who are not held accountable for their unlawful behavior. The C4Cs mission is to expose and eradicate racism in the Federal government that not only injures the affected party, but also hampers the governments ability to promote efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in Federal programs and operations.

Senator Ben Cardin Page 3 With this concern in mind, should you or your staff wish to discuss this matter in greater detail, the C4C leadership would be willing to meet. I can be reached at (866)737-9783. Sincerely, | Signed | Philip Taylor Acting President The Coalition For Change, Inc.

cc: Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman Senator Susan M. Collins, Ranking Member Senator Daniel K. Akaka Senator Ron Johnson Mr. John Berry, OPM Director