http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_J._Bloch
take a good look at this scumbag
[edit] "Sexual orientation" protection
Bloch's first major actions as head of the office were to choose as deputy a lawyer who had publicly taken a position against the "homosexual agenda", and to hire young lawyers from Ave Maria School of Law, the Catholic school founded by Domino's Pizza billionaire Tom Monaghan.[2] In February 2004, Bloch ordered all mention of sexual orientation workplace nondiscrimination be removed from OSC's website and printed materials. Bloch stated his office lacked the authority to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. [3]
Bloch's critics argued that gay employees were protected by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which prohibits discrimination against federal employees "on the basis of conduct which does not adversely affect the performance of the employee." Since its enactment, all five prior presidential administrations (Ford, Carter, Reagan, H. W. Bush, and Clinton) had interpreted this law to protect homosexual employees. [4]
After complaints from Congress, [5] the Bush Administration released a statement saying homosexual employees were still protected in April 2004. [6] Bloch issued a statement that after conducting a legal analysis: "It is the policy of this administration that discrimination in the federal workforce on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited." [7]
This did not satisfy gay rights organizations, which claimed a lack of enforcement of the policy. The OSC has still not restored the language on its website or printed materials. [8] [9] Notably the Federal GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Employees of the Federal Government) called for Bloch's resignation. [10]
Bloch later retracted his statements and stated his office did not have the legal authority to protect employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. (see Refusal to Investigate Complaints below)
[edit] Refusal to investigate complaints
Media sources, Congress, and gay rights organizations continued to criticize Special Counsel Bloch and the OSC's lack of enforcement of its policies, particularly in regards to dismissing gay discrimination complaints.
For example, Michael Levine, a 65-year-old and openly gay radio technician, claimed that, after he blew the whistle on a coworker's and his supervisor's workplace misconduct, a personnel officer engaged in retaliatory action against him: pursuing knowingly false allegations of child pornography against Levine, suspending Levine for 14 days, seizing his computer, and referring to gay people as "those fucking faggots".[11]
One year after filing both a retaliation and antigay discrimination complaint with the OSC, Levine received a letter from the OSC on December 28, 2004. Without interviewing even a single witness, the OSC wrote that it was unable to investigate the complaints because only conduct, not sexual orientation, was protected under the Civil Service Act of 1978 [11] -- a reversal of Bloch's April 8, 2004 statement that sexual orientation-based discrimination was prohibited due to imputed conduct and therefore that the OSC has the authority to pursue such complaints. [7]
After being embroiled in a related "internal purge" controversy (see below), Special Counsel Bloch testified before a Senate panel on May 24, 2005 and reiterated his original position that he lacked the authority to protect federal employees on the basis of sexual orientation. [12] The next day, the Log Cabin Republicans called on Bloch to resign. [13]
[edit] Reorganization or internal purge
In January 2005, the controversy escalated when Bloch ordered twelve OSC staffers, including the only two known gay employees, to transfer to distant cities or lose their jobs. [14] Bloch was accused of conducting a political purge of OSC employees by three government watchdog groups (the Government Accountability Project, the Project on Government Oversight, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), two federal trade unions (the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union), an LGBT rights organization (the Human Rights Campaign), and the OSC employees themselves. [15]
The Washington Blade reported that, according to unnamed sources "familiar with the agency", the employees had been targeted partly because of their disagreement with diminishing the jurisdiction of the OSC in prosecuting antigay workplace discrimination. [16] Both of the gay staffers had been critical of reducing OSC's role. Another of the twelve employees had reached a favorable settlement on behalf of a gay federal employee who filed a discrimination complaint against his supervisor. [14] In the end, ten of the twelve employees resigned. [17] Meanwhile, according to complaints, at least one staffer who had been supportive of Bloch's interpretation was promoted. [4]
In October 2005, the US Office of Personnel Management ordered an investigation of claims that Special Counsel Bloch retaliated against employees who disagreed with his policies. Ironically, the OSC would ordinarily oversee such whistleblower disputes. The probe is also investigating whether Bloch showed an antigay bias in refusing certain whistleblower and discrimination claims. [4]
In February 2007, Bloch was again accused of unfair supervisor practices when several of his staffers complained they felt coerced into not cooperating with the OPM probe. Bloch's deputy issued a memo urging OSC employees to only meet with probe investigaters in a certain conference room and to report their interactions to their supervisors. Employees reported other attempts to obstruct the investigation including "suggestions that all witnesses interviewed... provide Bloch with affidavits describing what they had been asked and how they responded." [18]
