Former EPA attorney sues agency for discrimination

A former EPA attorney has filed a lawsuit against the agency, saying EPA officials discriminated against him and then fired him in retaliation for his allegations. The lawsuit is the latest in a string of discrimination complaints against the agency. Steven M. Spiegel, a former enforcement attorney with the EPA, alleged that the agency repeatedly discriminated against him because of his disability and religion. Spiegel, who is Jewish, was one of several EPA employees who became disabled after being exposed to toxic air pollution while working in the EPA's Waterside Mall office building in Washington D.C. The exposed employees developed an extreme sensitivity to ordinary chemicals, a conditionknown as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS. (MCS). Spiegel moved to a new location but continued working at EPA, serving on the agency's Disability Advisory Council. In his lawsuit, Spiegel alleged that the EPA interfered with the council's activities in an effort to prevent him from helping disabled employees find reasonable work accommodations and to prevent him from providing the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission with accurate discrimination information. He said that EPA retaliated against him after he met with the staff of the House Science Committee to discuss discrimination at the agency. He said EPA denied his requests to work overtime to compensate for his religious observance of Jewish holidays. Spiegel was fired from his job in June, three weeks after he spoke at a rally on discrimination and retaliation at EPA. An EPA official said the Privacy Act prevents the agency from commenting on specific discrimination complaints. The Privacy Act, passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, restricts the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by federal agencies. "The agency takes very seriously all cases of discrimination brought to our attention and we will ensure that they are pursued with all due speed and that we are able to provide the appropriate relief for employee to make sure they are working in a safe and equitable work environment," the official said. "My feeling from dealing with the people [who filed discrimination complaints] is that the people in [EPA] personnel are not very sensitive to what they are doing. They take a very hard-line approach, particularly with the MCS people," said Bruce Terris, an attorney representing Spiegel. "I know there has been a lot of investigation into the situation at Waterside," said the EPA official. "We have taken a lot of steps to improve conditions in the Waterside facility, and we continue to remain vigilant in our concern and our effort to protect our workforce." Allegations of widespread discrimination at the agency have plagued EPA recently. This past summer, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a black senior policy analyst at EPA, won a race and sex discrimination suit against the agency. In September, EPA employees held a press conference in Washington alleging discrimination at the agency. At the conference, Anita Nickens, an EPA environmental specialist, said she was singled out by her supervisor during a 1993 business trip to North Carolina and asked to clean a toilet before Administrator Carol M. Browner's arrival. Nickens was the only black employee on the trip. Browner has called for an Inspector General's investigation into the matter. During an October hearing before the House Science Committee, EPA officials vigorously defended their agency's commitment to diversity. According to the agency, it has had about the same number of discrimination complaints filed against it as any other agency in the past eight years. Still, last month EPA hired a law firm to investigate allegations of discrimination at the agency and make recommendations on diversity. "We have brought in this outside consulting firm because they are experts in their field of building diversity in the workplace, and we are hopeful that the recommendations they make will go above and beyond the steps we are already taking," said the EPA official. "EPA's regional offices have diversity action plans that have been in place that they continue to expand and strengthen. We are taking every step available that we do have to ensure an equitable and fair workplace for all our employees," the official said.