Pitbull

Let's get this rolling. Believe me it really works when we share info and it will truly have an impact when we can demonstrate the similarities.

I can personally vouch for Guy Thomas. If he did get the SAC job in Boston, that's a good thing for ATF. He is a stand up guy and has done a lot for a lot of folks that I know. And let me tell you, he is definitely not a friend of Billy Hoover. That's what took him so long to get a job.

Word on the street is that the new SAC of Boston is Guy Thomas of St. Paul Division fame. I wonder if he is a Friend of Billy (FOB) 'cuz that seems to be the gold standard anymore.

I have decided to share my case regarding Eleaner Loos' retaliation against me. I believe this will help make ATF a better agency, a better place to work, will shine a light on ATF's dirty little secret and will take the power away from some of ATF's abusers.

In 2009, I already had an EEO complaint pending where an investigation had been conducted and was pending before an Administrative Judge. (Protected EEO Activity)

At this time, I was assigned to the Office of OPRSO, Inspection Division. We (Inspection Division) were preparing to conduct an administrative and operational review of Chief Counsel's Office. By coincidence, I was assigned to Eleaner Loos' office (Chief Counsel's Office - Administration and Ethics)

On or about May 1, 2009, I met with Katherine Meng (Loos' subordinate) and Mr. Billy Hoover, AD Field Ops to attempt to settle my case. (Protected EEO Activity)

I sent Eleaner Loos an email notifying her that I was the team leader for her office. She never responded to my email or expressed any concerns to me. She did however contact my first line and second line supervisors.

On May 4, 2009, at 8:00AM, I was informed by the Inspection Leaders that I had been reassigned to another Chief Counsel Office (Disclosure and Forfeiture). I immediately knew that it was because of my EEO protected activity. I was embarrassed and humiliated in front of my peers and collegues in addition to experiencing other issues and physical/emotional ailments. The only reason that I was reassigned to another office was due to my protected EEO activity as described above.

Subsequently, I notified ATF's EEO Office and they did not assign an EEO counselor right away. The EEO Office also has not conducted an investigation into the matter or taken sworn statements from the management officials involved due to the fact that it involves Eleaner Loos, Associate Chief Counsel (Administration and Ethics). Valarie Bacon, (Eleaner Loos) and Katherine Meng from Eleaner Loos' office were the Agency's Representatives in my case until February 1, 2010 when two (2) Department of Justice Attorney were assigned to avoid the "appearance" of a conflict of interest as they stated. I am sure that Eleaner Loos is still manipulating the case in the background.

The Agency also refuses to provide and respond to timely submitted discovery in hopes to prevail or escape via a loophole.

It is my sincere hope that ATF will begin to act with the honor and integrity it demands of its employees and carry out there obligations relating to this and any other cases that they may have pending before an administrative judge or a federal judge. While the Agency should most certainly be concerned with liability, it should also accept and be concerned with responsibility and make sure that employees are treated fairly and with respect no matter on what side of the litigation fence they find themselves on.

Deputy Director Melson the non-cooperation of ATF in legal matters and similar types of ATF actions is what makes ATF employee's use hurtful and disrespectful language because when we (employees) have the courage to stand up and air our grievances, we are victimized again with the Agency's resistance and non-cooperation to the Agency's obligation to ascertain the truth with evidence and not self-serving statements or actions. I believe that if the Agency makes a mistake, they should own up to it and be truthful about it rather than hide behind litigation, engage in further cover-ups, act like what happened does not matter, retaliate and re-victimize the employee.

I believe that this is the change that ATF employees are looking for and this is the type of change that they can believe in.


Sincerely,


Hiram Andrades

Agent 14, thanks for your post. I am a first line supervisor and am proud of it. i know and understand that my people are everything and the most important thing to get my job done successfully. We have to stop thinking that please and thank you are bad words. I too have a pending complaint because I have a jack*** masquerading as a supervisor. So I feel your pain. Unfortunately we at ATF do not have a system where we hold upper management accountable for their actions. If ATF was really serious about doing this, we would have evaluations of supervisors at every level that included input from the people that they work for as well as the people that work for them. Keep grinding and keep your spirits up.

I would like to thank all of the CUATF members who posted on this topic. This section is particularly helpful for agents in the field that are dealing with EEO issues with management. It has been especially helpful to me. This site lets working agents out there know that they are not alone. Management wants us to feel isolated and insignificant and this site gives agents across the country hope. Real street agents with pride in the agency and their work, despite our uninspiring leadership, will keep this agency alive.

To all the agents out there that are disgruntled with management, I say to you;

-Don't let them stop you from working good ATF cases. If they close one door, open another.
-Don't get down on yourself and know that you are NOT alone.
-Don't ever forget how proud you really are to be an ATF Special Agent.
-Don't forget that no matter how management tries to twist, lie, and "forget things"(to name a few things they are know for) at the end of the day the truth will always be the truth.
-Don't give management too much credit, the real working street agents are the real investigators and we are very good at what we do.
-DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!
-Don't use it as an excuse to work road kill cases because management won't give you any trouble. I am saying this to you from one agent to another who has personally experienced a great deal of problems with management for working ATF cases. If you give up, the cycle will continue.

Is it really hard to think a step ahead of our "60% club" managers????? We know they are going to stab us in the back BEFORE they make poor decisions and blame it on the working agent to try to save themselves.

To Management;
The working agents of today are what will make you a better manager (that is if you are interested in that). Yes, you may have to call some shots and holly crap you might not know what to do, if you let real agents work. If you are so afraid to makes mistakes that you want to take your ball and go home, maybe you should not be in management. Everyone makes mistakes, even management. As agents we are not expecting you to be perfect. We are just asking that when you make a mistake you own up to it. (I know most of you are laughing at this point). By being in management you have taken a step forward to take on some of the responsibility of facilitating our agents work in producing good case work for this agency. You stepped up, so step up. Don’t be afraid of good hard working agents. It may be outside of your comfort zone but we are what will help you grow as a supervisor. Would it be asking for too much, if you don’t know the answer to something, for you to just admit that you don’t know the answer? By the way, we aren’t selling used cars here. The old fake it until you make it, could cause someone to lose their life. An ego is a terrible thing to have as a manager which could also have grave ramifications for all parties involved. If your agents wrote evaluations on YOUR performance, what do you think it would say? (Oh nothing bad, because then you would retaliate) Seriously, I would like to challenge you to get to know your agents. I bet you could find something that is good in each one of your agents. If you do know them and you can’t find something good in them, make them good at something. You are a supervisor, right?