Federal Daily - November 3, 2008

ALJ Certifies Employee Class in SSA Complaint

An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) administrative law judge (ALJ) approved the class certification for a group of disabled employees at the Social Security Administration (SSA) who filed a complaint with EEOC alleging they had been discriminated against and denied promotions. The complaint alleges that SSA discriminates against employees with “targeted disabilities” by creating a glass ceiling and limiting promotional and other career advancement opportunities, according to the nonprofit Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and a consortium of law firms representing the employees. Employees with targeted disabilities (TDEs) have impairments—such as deafness, blindness, paralysis or convulsive disorders—that tend to be more severe and immediately apparent to potential employers, DRA said in an Oct. 30 statement. ALJ David Norken noted that the employees have already presented a volume of evidence to back up their claims. “Complainant has presented evidence of a centralized practice affording selecting officials unfettered discretion,” the judge said. Norken said evidence included “statistically significant evidence that TDEs are selected for promotion at lower rates than non-TDEs, anecdotal evidence of discrimination and a social science report on the agency’s organizational culture which permits discrimination against TDEs.” Attorneys estimate that the class could include as many as 2,000 employees. “I hope this decision serves as a wake-up call to the agency," says Ronald Jantz, a deaf SSA employee and the named plaintiff in the case.  “I have worked at SSA for over 20 years and never once received a promotion.” To see more, go to: www.dralegal.org.

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APWU, Lawmakers Rally to Protest BMC Privatization

Local and national elected officials joined with about 300 members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) at an Oct. 27 rally to protest the proposed privatization of a New Jersey Bulk Mail Center (BMC). The rally is part of a national union effort to protest U.S. Postal Service (USPS) plans to privatize BMCs across the country, APWU said in a statement. Reps. Donald Payne, D-N.J., and Albio Sires, D-N.J., spoke to a crowd of postal workers and their supporters. “This Postal Service seems to have the Wall Street mentality that it can privatize everything,” Sires said. Both congressmen have signed on as co-sponsors of the Mail Network Protection Act (H.R. 4236), which would require the Postal Service to bargain with its unions before engaging in significant subcontracting to private entities. The New Jersey BMC is the nation’s largest and employs about 2,400 workers—half of whom live in Jersey City, said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. “Our city needs those jobs,” Healy said. “We will fight to keep this bulk center open, we will fight to keep the workers here, postal workers and union members.” APWU President William Burrus said that USPS has launched a program of “incremental” privatization. “The Postal Service’s drive to outsource and subcontract is undermining productivity and service to the public,” Burrus said. To see more, go to: www.apwu.org/news/webart/2008/0899-bmc-081030.htm.

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Lawmakers Urge OPM to Extend Leave Time for Election Day Voting

Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Tom Davis, R-Va., on Oct. 30 asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to give federal employees two extra hours of excused absence to vote on Election Day in light of an anticipated record turnout. Currently, OPM rules dictate that if the polls are not open at least three hours either before or after an employee’s regular work hours, an agency may grant a limited amount of excused absence that will permit the employee to report for work three hours after the polls open or leave from work three hours before the polls close. An employee’s “regular work hours” are determined by the time of day the employee normally arrives at and departs from work. Those rules are problematic for the many Washington, D.C.-area federal workers wanting to vote in Virginia, because of lengthy commuting times and projected long lines at the voting booth, the congressmen said. For example, Virginia polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Employees scheduled to work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. would not be eligible for excused absence since, under OPM’s rules, they would have three hours before work in which to vote. Those who work 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. would be eligible to receive a half-hour of excused absence. “Given the importance of this election, the importance of voting in our democracy, and longer commuting times in general, we are concerned that federal workers may face the prospect of not voting or violating current federal leave requirements,” the lawmakers said in a letter to OPM acting Director Michael W. Hager. “Additional time for excused absence beyond the current three hours would go a long way toward relieving federal employees.” To see more, go to: http://moran.house.gov/apps/list/press/va08_moran/OPMVote.shtml.

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