EPA manager praises agency decision not to appeal bias verdict

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a black senior manager at the Environmental Protection Agency who won a race and sex discrimination suit against the agency last August, praised EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman's decision not to appeal the case. Coleman-Adebayo said she was "delighted" by the court's ruling and Whitman's decision not to challenge the verdict. Coleman-Adebayo won a $600,000 verdict. But, by law, compensatory damages for employment discrimination cases are capped at $300,000 per complainant (United States Code Title 42, Section 1981). In a Feb. 1 letter, Whitman asked U.S. District Attorney Wilma A. Lewis to drop any challenges to Coleman-Adebayo's case. "Administrator Whitman is sending a message to EPA employees that under her tenure the kind of racism, sexism and retaliation that took place under Administrator [Carol M.] Browner will not be tolerated," said Coleman-Adebayo. An EPA employee since 1990, Coleman-Adebayo alleged that a colleague at the agency called her "an honorary white man" and was told her managers considered her "uppity." While working in EPA's Office of International Activities, Coleman-Adebayo, who has a doctorate in international and African development, said she was replaced by a white man with no background in Africa. Coleman-Adebayo is now a senior advisor to the director in EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. She has co-founded a support group called EPA Victims of Racial Discrimination for employees who feel they have been victims of discrimination at the agency. Coleman-Adebayo said it was difficult for people to believe her allegations of discrimination because, given its focus on health and the environment, the EPA is considered to be a liberal agency. Whitman voiced her commitment to addressing discrimination and other workplace issues at EPA during her confirmation hearing. One of her top priorities will be to ensure that all employees understand what constitutes proper behavior, she said.