In 2004, a Special Agent assigned to San Juan, Puerto Rico (PR) was harassed by my GS and the RAC. Both the GS and the RAC were Puerto Rican and I am Mexican, and they both thought that I should speak Spanish because I was Hispanic.
The GS gave me a bad evaluation partially because I did not speak Spanish and used that as a partial basis in writing. ATF would not allow me to go to the State Department language school and speaking Spanish was NOT a prerequisite to be an ATF agent in PR. The Agent complained to one ASAC and he came to PR to review the situation. He reviewed my work and management logs. The ASAC strongly suggested that the GS give the Agent a better evaluation. The GS changed the evaluation and he was angry because "it made him look bad." The GS admitted this during his sworn deposition in Apr 2008. He also admitted that the Agent never did anything to embarrass or discredit ATF. He admitted the Agent worked very hard and fixed a lot of problems
The GS admitted to being present during an incident where he and the RAC called the Agent into the RAC's office because they were angry that the Agent reported an incident to the second ASAC about the GS not allowing the Agent to interview a convict in prison. The convict had information on a series of unsolved gun store burglaries in PR and the murder of an off duty female police officer. During this conversation, the RAC stated the only thing the Agent could have done worse than calling Miami is calling IA and that if the Agent called IA, he would be dead. I made a mental note and kept talking. The RAC repeated the line that the Agent would be dead if he called IA and then the GS stated, "he does not mean you will be killed, he means your career would be dead."
The Agent went to his desk and typed a memo to the second ASAC reporting the threats to his life and/or his job. This ASAC came to PR and told the GS and RAC to resolve this conflict. The ASAC dismissed the incident by saying that the Agent told him he did not feel threatened. What the ASAC was told was that the Agent did not think the supervisors were going to shoot him in the office at that time, but that he did think that something dangerous would happen to him in the future.
The Special Agent made an EEO complaint and ATF continued to push back the complaint 180 days each time the Agent reported a new incident of discrimination. This is consistent with ATFs unlawful application of the EEOC rules and requirements. The Executive Director for ATFs EEOC has since been removed for incompetence and malfeasance. The EEO process in its current form is ineffective and serves as a tool for reprisal by the Agency. Hundreds of complaints have been handled in this manner.
The Agent also reported waste fraud and abuse as represented by the fact that the office had an extremely low amount of guns purchased during a preceding 12 month period as related to the amount of money ATF spent on salaries, office rental space, cars, gas, utilities and other expenses. The Agent was sent to Hurricane Katrina relief detail despite the fact that there were senior GS-13 agents volunteering to go in the Agents place. ATF attempted to cancel the Agents military leave and then made the Agent cancel a trip to visit his wife in Chicago that had been previously paid for. These are the sort of vindictive acts that the Agency managers have become infamous for without consequence.
The Agent reported this to the SAC, and rather than correcting the obvious reprisals and gross mismanagement, the Agent was given a letter of caution stating he was disrespectful in the e-mail. The Agent notified IA and his allegations went uninvestigated. The Agent was being constructively forced out of his job because he followed ATF policy by reporting misconduct and abuse of authority. The Agent was retaliated against for blowing the whistle on misconduct and criminal conduct.
ATF refused to move the Agent back to Chicago despite the fact that he had completed his required 3 year tour in PR, which is identified by ATF as a hardship location. The SAC insured the Agent was denied multiple positions for which he has applied. The agency also refused the Agent a hardship transfer to Chicago to be reunited with his family. The RAC cut the Agents home leave short and referred to the Agent as a me "maricón" frequently. "Maricón" means "faggot" in Spanish. The Supervisor admitted this during his sworn deposition. None of the supervisors were punished for their illegal behavior. The supervisors remained in ATF management.
The Agent wrote a memo to the DAD-East to report alleged wrong doing by Task Force Officers, the GS, and the RAC. Additionally the Agent reported the ongoing retaliation and hostile work environment he had experienced from the ASAC and the SAC. ATF finally sent IA down to PR to investigate the allegations. The IA investigator was anything but impartial or professional. Instead the IA investigator investigated the Agent and another GS-13 Special Agent who told the truth about the allegations. The Agent provided proof of harassing text messages and IA ignored them. The IA investigator, the RAC, and one other person lied during their sworn depositions. ATF is wasting millions of taxpayer dollars each year because of mismanagement and criminal conduct.
