A rogue official is able to sign settlement agreements like a
mafia boss hoping to pay off victims so they won't speak," says Tanya Ward
Jordan, President of Coalition For Change, Inc. C4C, a support group for civil rights whistleblowers. "As
a result, unlawful activities flourish within agencies. Perry
knows this."
Anthony
Perry dedicated twenty-nine years to federal service. He
worked for the Census
Bureau in 2011 as a Supervisory Information Technology Specialist.
Court records disclose that Census officials raised time and
attendance issues and later proposed Perry's
removal. Perry alleges that Census
officials fabricated charges against him
after he engaged in protected EEO activity. Additionally,
he claims officials pressured him to drop EEO complaints and forced him into
early retirement through a settlement agreement.
Perry signed the agreement
to avoid losing his retirement pension.
However, he later fought to have his case heard in judicial forums
including the Merit Systems Protection Board and later the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia.
Both forums claimed they had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Eventually, Perry made it to the Supreme Court. In 2017, the Supreme Court
ruled that the district court had authority to review Perry's mixed employment
case and remanded it to the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Despite the high court's ruling, Judge Tanya
Chutkan dismissed Perry's case
and opined:
"Unfortunately
for Perry, this Court will not reach his discrimination claims either but
instead will affirm the Merit Systems Protection Board's (MSPB or
"Board") decision dismissing his claims for lack of jurisdiction."
Despite over a decade of
litigation, Perry's
case remains open. He challenges
charges and a settlement agreement
engineered by Census officials. Perry
says the settlement agreement was intended to silence him
from speaking out about the unlawful civil rights acts committed by Census. Perry,
however, continues to speak out.
Nathaniel A.G.
Zelinsky, with Hogan Lovells, filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia
on behalf of
Anthony Perry. The brief states the District Court erred when it declined to consider Perry's discrimination claims de
novo against his former employer, the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The court scheduled oral
arguments on the case for 9:30 a.m., February 12, 2024, in the United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit, Barrett Prettyman Building.
Tanya Ward Jordan is the author of 17 STEPS: A Federal Employee's Guide For Tackling Workplace Discrimination. She serves as President and Founder of the Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C). C4C is an proactive non-profit self-help organization (more...)
