AOC Settles Racial Discrimination Lawsuit, Extending History of Inequity
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) settled a race discrimination lawsuit last week with Anthony Green, a maintenance mechanic at the agency's Capitol Power Plant. The AOC will pay $135,000 to Green in total compensation, including $85,000 in "compensatory damages" and $50,000 in attorney fees, and the terms of the settlement bar Green from filing a lawsuit on the same claim in the future.
As an employee, Green claimed he was discriminated against for his race, and branded as a "lazy" employee. Green testified that his supervisor at the time, and three fellow mechanics referred to Green with a racial slur when they talked with other agency employees.
Further, Green alleges his colleagues tied a noose around the equipment he was responsible for inspecting. According to the lawsuit, Spencer knew that Green was assigned for that particular inspection and put the noose there. Green showed the noose to another supervisor – a black man – who subsequently photographed it on his phone.
One of the mechanics has been the subject of two complaints to the AOC with respect to their alleged behavior – one in June 2019 by Green and another by an unknown in May 2019. According to the lawsuit, neither led to an immediate investigation; however, Green and other mechanics were interviewed by the agency's Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Dispute Resolution in July 2019. The lawsuit alleges the agency did not act on Green's complaint about the conduct of his colleagues and eventually retaliated against him.
In 2019, the year that Green filed his lawsuit, the AOC's Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report alleging that AOC leaders created a permissible workplace and describing the challenges the organization faces in trying to establish a safe and appropriate working environment over a period of ten years.
The 53-page report includes evidence of sexual harassment cases within the agency between October 2008 and October 2018, as well as reports of racial discrimination and retaliation allegations against whistleblowers. A reported number of 57 incidents of sexual harassment occurred during the designated period and about 44 percent of the allegations were proven. The accused included 24 supervisors and members of Congress – there is no mention of specific lawmakers or when the allegations were made in the report.
The report states that the OIG was unable to determine the nature of many complaints due to the refusal of the Human Capital Management Division to provide details, since most were described as "sexual harassment, inappropriate remarks or inappropriate touching."
“No improvement in investigative technique or punitive standards will be sufficient in the absence of a quality automated tracking mechanism,” stated the inspector general, urging the AOC to prioritize tracking harassment cases and promote the reporting of cases through a targeted campaign that uses visual graphics.