More than 300 African American managers at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) were denied promotions due to discrimination, a class action complaint alleges.
White managers at USDA's Farm Service Agency systematically denied promotions to African American employees in grades GS-12 through GS-14, the employees' said. In one instance, a white woman with only a high school education was promoted over an African American man with a Ph.D.
The complaint, originally filed two years ago, will be heard April 12 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It requests a promotion for each manager as well as back pay and benefits.
The attorneys representing the African American managers held a rally today outside of USDA to demand answers to questions about USDA's treatment of black employees.
According to class attorney Joseph D. Gebhardt, USDA has long been under fire for allegations of racial discrimination. USDA has for years "systematically excluded African Americans from policymaking positions in the upper levels of agency management," Gebhardt said.
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