Trouble in “Big Sister’s” Fiefdom
Well, it looks like there may well be trouble in paradise. If you define “paradise” as being the Department of Homeland Security, that is.
There may well be substance to recent allegations of a female “frat-house” environment and/or nepotism at the highest echelons of DHS. Additional witnesses apparently have come forward implicating Suzanne Barr, chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in having engaged in “lewd behavior”.
Yeah, I know boys will be boys and girls will be girls and all that. And I generally don’t really give the proverbial rat’s ass what consenting adults do in private on their own time, provided they don’t ask me to approve or somehow financially subsidize their shenanigans.
But I do care about fair and equal treatment under the law. Here we seem to have indications of possible serious wrongdoing by very senior people at DHS – wrongdoing that was both unlawful and blatantly discriminatory. There are now two different lawsuits accusing multiple senior DHS officials as having engaged in discriminatory practices and/or lewd behavior to an extent which arguably constitutes a hostile workplace. And reportedly there are other witnesses to similar misconduct who have not yet been deposed.
I think I’m seeing smoke. And I remember an old saying that starts off something like, “Where there’s smoke . . . .”
This also makes me wonder about a couple of other things. First: will our “liberal brethren” who’ve been campaigning for years for gender equality call for the wholesale firing of implicated DHS senior leadership – or will they ignore the whole matter or argue for leniency? I think we already know the answer if those accused here were male. But they’re not.
And second: will DoJ actually conduct a real investigation of these allegations to determine if there’s been a violation of civil rights and/or Federal employment law? Or will these allegations be ignored and/or swept under the rug – just like the Philadelphia NBPP election incident?
I’m sure some lawyer in the DOJ or White House is drafting up a policy memo that will try to get this either ‘classified for national security’ or claim ‘executive privilege’. And this will receive just as much serious goverment scrutiny as any female on male sexual harassment reported in the military.
I have been though soo many sexual harassment classes in my life, I could teach the course! But, sadly, they have been a waste on me. Not once have I been sexually harassed by a gook looking female (or otherwise, thankfully) supervisor! I may have to go through the training again, obviously I am doing something wrong! 😉
Why is it the ones who need “sensitivity” or “sexual harassment” classes the most are the ones who never seem to take them.
Anyone who was jabbing icepicks in their eyes after Tailhook who stopped long enough to look around notice (as I did) one glaring absence–the officers.
Ref. NHSparky, I would agree, rarely were any officers around for the training. I do mean senior officers, I often attended the classes with 0-1 thru 0-4’s.
Wrong is wrong, but, my personal opinion of DHS is that it is predominately wrong on numerous accounts. This is just one more example of the current mindset of those in power thinking they are above the common American. And I do not believe for one minute that the current administration will follow through with justice unless forced by the public.
On a less serious note, I do believe I have not experienced any harassment due to my “ruggedly handsome looks” and size. Silver backs are generally left to their own devices.
Ms. Barr sounds like a lot of fun at parties…not very often you have drunk blondes asking if they can suck your d1ck at a party, at least not my parties.
Maybe I need some different party friends….or not.
Maybe they should switch out the sexual harassment classes for lessons on manners.
I work in the IT industry, which is still very much male-dominated. I have never been treated with anything other than professional politeness. I did see one incidence of sexual harassment by a manager towards one of my co-workers, it was promptly reported and he was quickly fired. I also worked with a guy who was a complete ass to those who worked for him, we got rid of him too.
Most of the guys even display chivalry, opening doors for me, letting me enter the elevator first, carrying my bag, etc.
I can’t imagine anyone I’ve ever worked with saying those types of things at work. Everyone knows it’s unacceptable, regardless of gender.
I hope there are a lot more ‘leaves of absence’ and resignations soon. Although I’m also hoping for complete turnover come November.
Gee, in the 1960s, every sailor coming back from 90 days out to sea was a horny, obnoxious jerk with a brain the size of a pea. All any of them wanted to do was get drunk, get laid, and waste their money on crap. Women were just fresh meat, WAVES or otherwise. Just one big frat house atmosphere, and then they went back to sea duty.
Didn’t see that kind of thing in the sandcrabs, so things must have changed a lot, but then it was the 60s, there was a war one…it was a lot more fun.
But Ms. Barr doesn’t have the excuse of being a sailor on shore leave back in the 1960s, does she? The “frat house” comment, and the fact that she’s a supervisor — does anyone besides me wonder what the h— is wrong with these people? Since when is it OK for anyone in a position of responsibility to act like someone in the “girls gone wild” videos?
Give me a horse whip and 15 minutes with that bitch out behind the outhouse. I’ll straighten her out in a hurry.
[…] ICE Chief of Staff Resigns September 4th, 2012 A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about apparent issues with senior leadership at DHS. Well, it looks like one of the […]
Bear in mind that this whole deal came out of a lawsuit filed by the Special Agent In Charge of the New York ICE office. In his federal lawsuit he alleged that he was discriminated against by Napolitano, Barr etc because of his age and sex when he applied for the SAC-Los Angeles position and didn’t get selected. The federal lawsuit was filed a couple of months ago and a few months prior to that he had filed an EEO complaint within the agency. His lawsuit and complaint added the Barr sexcapades allegations which allegedly occurred a couple of years previously. Of particular note is the following: The individual who filed the lawsuit and EEO complaint started with the federal government in the border patrol as a patrol agent in 1995. A couple of years later he transitioned to Immigration Agent in Los Angeles which is a criminal investigator position. He held that job for a couple of years and following 9-11 went to Hqs in DC where he quickly rose through the ranks eventually becoming a member of the SES in charge of Deportations. After various altercations with upper management, they transferred him to New York as the SAC in charge of all Homeland Security investigations. When I was an SA with US Customs prior to my retirement in 2001 – you would never hear of an individual with practically no investigative experience rising to the rank of an SES SAC – which is what this guy did. Anyway although the allegations against Barr seem to be accurate – they had no bearing on his so called discrimination case. It was just a case of someone being aware of that kind of thing and condoning it through his failure to report it at the time it happened (at least two years prior to his lawsuit). Then when he gets crossways with the agency he pulls it out to use for his advantage. I still have friends inside the agency and am aware that in regard to his allegations, 24 of the 26 of the current Homeland Security Investigations Special… Read more »