« previous | MUCK HOME | next »
Alleged Discriminator Nominated to Employee Discrimination Panel
Only in the Bush administration.
President Bush's nominee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was the subject of "at least one complaint of employee abuse," as McClatchy reported Monday. The nominee, David Palmer, was the subject of the complaint when he was (again, prepare yourself for the irony) the chief of the employment litigation section in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Palmer was a career lawyer at the Department, but according to a letter from eight veterans of the section, he became indistinguishable from the political appointees in the way that he led the section:
The Section has failed in its core mission to secure the rights of African-Americans, Hispanics, women, and other protected groups, as the number of cases has declined precipitously. On the other hand, the Section filed two reverse discrimination pattern or practice lawsuits under Mr. Palmer’s tenure. In addition, it immersed itself in defending the rights of employers to discriminate based on religion.
You can read the letter here. It was sent Monday to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) who chairs the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which will handle Palmer's nomination.
In a sign that the heat may be building against Palmer's nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wrote Kennedy and ranking member Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) yesterday to express his "serious concerns" about Palmer's nomination. The letter is posted below.
The reasons for opposing Palmer's nomination, as outlined in the former Department employees' letter, are not limited to his enforcement of discrimination laws. The letter describes a mediocre, plodding lawyer who was arbitrarily promoted over his colleagues to a senior position, and who, once in power, was just plain mean.
Marian Thompson, formerly a statistician in the section, put it plainly to me. Palmer, she said, was just interested in the "trappings of power" and had "no interest, no knowledge, and no interest in knowing of anything of substance in the section."
It's unclear when the committee will hear Palmer's nomination.
Obama's letter:
Dear Chairman Kennedy and Ranking Member Enzi:I am writing to express my serious concerns about the nomination of David Palmer to become a Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Mr. Palmer’s record as Chief of the Employment Litigation Section of the Department of Justice raises serious questions about his competence and his commitment to civil rights.
The EEOC is the nation’s preeminent agency for enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Every EEOC Commissioner must be above reproach and have a history of achievement and commitment to the enforcement of anti-discrimination in employment.
On July 13, 2007, Mr. Palmer met with HELP Committee staff, including two representatives from my office. He articulated a commitment to civil rights and the enforcement of discrimination law. When pressed about his actual record, however, he was unable to reconcile his professed views with the disappointing record of his leadership at the Justice Department.
For example, Latinos filed over half of the nearly 300 charges of national origin discrimination that the EEOC referred to the Employment Litigation Section while Mr. Palmer led that section. Yet, during his tenure, he brought only one case on behalf of a Latino complainant. And while Mr. Palmer told HELP staff that he recognized that African Americans and Latinos suffer disproportionately from employment discrimination, he could not explain why the section filed almost as many cases alleging national origin or race discrimination against whites as against African Americans and Latinos combined.
Moreover, according to a July 23, 2007 letter from a group of former career managers, attorneys, and career professionals from the Department of Justice, Mr. Palmer treated colleagues with “disdain and contempt,” and there was “at least one complaint of discrimination or other improper activity . . . filed against Mr. Palmer during his tenure as Section Chief.”
Although I do not question the sincerity of Mr. Palmer’s statements to the HELP Committee staff, the facts about his section’s work are too serious to be ignored.
Given Mr. Palmer’s poor record and the declared concerns of his former colleagues regarding his fitness for this position, I hope you both will work to address these issues before Mr. Palmer is given a confirmation vote in Committee. I look forward to working with you to ensure that any nominee to the EEOC is dedicated to the mission of the Commission and has a track record that demonstrates his or her capacity for the job. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
United States Senator
Comments (22)
Monz wrote on July 27, 2007 1:44 PM:Looks like we're gonna have another recess appointment.
Paranoid yet? wrote on July 27, 2007 1:48 PM:Up is Down. Down is up. Got a problem with that?
Anna S. wrote on July 27, 2007 1:53 PM:All threads run back to the Justice Department. It's the trickle-down theory of governmental corruption: VP then AG then Justice Department, then other departments, and so on down the line. At least he was nominated for Commissioner, not General Counsel. The GC is in charge of litigating enforcement of the EEOC's rules, and that really would have been a disaster.
Too bad the MSM in poor, historically black states won't pick up this story and run with it. Good for Obama on picking it up, though.
Woodhall Hollow wrote on July 27, 2007 2:13 PM:These guys are like meth addicts: they couldn't stop trying to game the system, even if they wanted to!
exdem wrote on July 27, 2007 5:27 PM:Orwell was an underachiever....
Anonymous wrote on July 27, 2007 6:24 PM:Didn't Harry Reid say he wasn't going to adjourn the Senate in August, just in order to prevent recess appointments? I sort of remember him getting Senators lined up to cover this duty throughout the month.
breakspear wrote on July 27, 2007 8:17 PM:Yeah that recess appt thing is plausible but not now as this guy hasn't even had a hearing yet to determine if he's qualified. If Bush did that itd be after a vote on him or after such hearing. Or maybe he'll just do it early and bypass Congress and their oversight and confirmation process...naah, he'd never do that. Hmm, or would he?
regular lurker wrote on July 27, 2007 8:27 PM:Who knew so many mediocre people still existed out there? It's pretty difficult to find a lazier self centered dunce than Bush, but Lo! Another one just creeps out from under another rock.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, become Bush appointees.
JimBob wrote on July 28, 2007 2:17 AM:It's not just "those who can't," it's those who are so paradoxically wrong for the job that it can only be a big Fuck You Joke for Bush and Cheney and Rove to keep themselves warm with on cold winter nights.
career Fed wrote on July 28, 2007 9:13 AM:It's the whole Federal Government right now...I work at the IRS and our Commissioner just bailed and the acting Comish (who Congress liked) just bailed...we are all demoralized. Bush has just devastated us with his political appointees and then the special hires OPM brings in to fill those executive slots...we have so much rot inside it's going to take decades to get back on track. You haven't even seen the worst of the damage Bush done to our Government, just the most visible in DOJ...
Michael wrote on July 28, 2007 2:44 PM:No more recess appointments and no more confirmations for these criminals. We are better off with an empty chair than a king appointee. Keep the Senate in session until the end of the king's term. Also, congress has to start selectively cutting off funding of departments starting with the non-civil rights division in the non-justice department. This is really pathetic. No more king appointments and no more cash. Maybe that will wake him up.
Thinking Person wrote on July 28, 2007 2:51 PM:Career Fed, you've just confirmed what I've suspected for a long time--incredible damage in every nook and cranny. I wish the prinicpled people would stay instead of bailing. Without them, how can the damage be reversed?
Enzi is "my" senator and he will walk/talk the Bush line right off the plank. I have a file of his responses to my letters and they are all kool-aid stained. We're searching for a strong candidate to put up against him in 2008--a long shot in a state that hasn't made it into the 20th century yet.
jeffgee wrote on July 28, 2007 5:45 PM:Palmer is a perfect fit in the Bush Reich. A kiss-up kick-down kind of guy, uninterested in governing, interested only in ruling.
nellieh wrote on July 28, 2007 8:08 PM:Reagan said that government is the problem. The Bush/GOP regime have proven it.
Will Palmer 'dupe' the Democrats on this appointment too?
career Fed wrote on July 28, 2007 8:15 PM:There are a lot of career civil servants, like myself, that are slogging through this because we believe the common good and we 'know' that good Government can make a difference. Most of us made it through Reagan (and we thought it would never get worse than that!) and we are determined to make it through Bush and his ilk. I have lost count of how many of my die-hard republican co-workers have stopped calling me a "granola eating Lib" and have started having heart to heart discussions about what we can do to save our Government and our Country!! Bush has scared the living shit out of educated republicans - they will be voting Democrat this next round - holding their nose, but doing it to get us back on course. Appointments like this to the EEOC is just embarrassing. He has no respect for America. Period.
Thinking Person wrote on July 28, 2007 8:44 PM:Career Fed, good to know there is some change of heart happening. I see it myself now and then.
career Fed wrote on July 28, 2007 9:28 PM:Thinking Person, Good luck with Enzi - not much you can do up there to get a progressive candidate in play. I know some folks in Montana and they say there is a lot of people moving in and buying up land that have 'big city' ideas...trying to drag them into the 20th century...maybe it will happen in WY too! A nice, moderate anti-war candidate might stand a chance...I believe there are more of "us" out there then most are willing to admit.
Cinderella Ferret wrote on July 29, 2007 1:55 AM:Tony Snow: This is all a big mistake. David Palmer was a fictional character on the hit series "24". The character, play skillfully by actor Dennis Haysbert, was the first Black President of the United States. You see this is all a misunderstanding. How could the first Black President of the United States, possibly be a discriminator?
Me: Ridiculous? Not as ridiculous as any other "fact" coming from this White House.
mari wrote on July 29, 2007 11:53 PM:I think the idea of keeping the Senate in session is inspired. Also keep the schedule well known so it does not interrupt a Senator's campaign schedule if they are running for President.
Senator Reed is getting better and better all the time. Big surprise to the Republicans I talk to who thought he would be a pushover. When we finally get him a majority, then we will see really how effective he can truly be. Come quickly 2008!!!!
Good for Harry i say!!!!!
Al in Austex wrote on July 30, 2007 5:41 AM:career Fred-
aileench wrote on July 31, 2007 11:35 PM:I am encouraged that you & others would stick it out for the common good in these current circumstances many of us look for encouraging news . You are right -I believe that the 2008 election cycle will lead to a Democratic Tsunami victory that will sweep away all things Republican.
How many former employees from IRS have knowledge of violations of the Hatch Act or other criminal activity undertaken by the Bush aappointees ? And are these former employees talking to the Hill Staffers now conducting the Congressional Oversight Investigations ?
While the U.S. government and media keep focusing on defense policies, campaign advertisement and the war in Iraq, 1.2 billion people in the world continue surviving on less than $1 dollar a day. I would like to see our current “president” and political parties in general, support more international problems that affect our place in this world, such as global poverty. We should not forget the commitment made towards the U.N. Millennium Goals (a pact of ending extreme world hunger by the year 2025) in 2000. While the U.S. government and media keep focusing on defense policies and the war in Iraq, 1.2 billion people in the world continue surviving on less than $1 dollar a day. According to The Borgen Project, an annual $19 billion dollars is needed to eliminate half of the extreme poverty affecting the world by the year 2015. To my sense, it is almost unacceptable to have spent so far more than $340 billion in Iraq only, when we have more than war immunities to change the world and eliminate poverty.
EEOC Corruption wrote on August 26, 2007 7:43 PM:To paraphrase the songwriter Melvina Reynolds, “put it in the ground, spread it all around, dig it with a hoe, it will help your garden grow”. Despite the Obama rhetoric about Palmer, this is only the tip of the manure pile at the EEOC. Like the Catholic Church with their codependent porno priests, the EEOC needs a spring cleaning and airing out of the grunge and stench of corruption that has too long been dry cleaned by this public perception of their holier than though purity. If this day of reckoning ever comes, what will be left is a bruised and battered agency, chastened by public censure but perhaps in a better place to respond to their mission of civil rights at the workplace.
If you think I am merely bellowing smoke from lips that can never tell a lie, I invite one and all to read my account of my experiences at the EEOC at www.eeoc-corruption.com.