By: De Angeles Davis
I am one of the thousands Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo writes about.
The first African-American female union president at the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia. Illegally ousted from my position on April 15, 2005. Appealed to the MSPB, agency decision upheld without any evidence whatsoever.
It shook the very foundation of my core belief in the United States Justice system because I always believed you had to have some type of evidence (even if circumstantial) to determine someone’s guilt/culpability.
Probably true but not for me. Henrietta Snow, African-American GS-15 Deputy facilitated my ouster after I endured years of harassment and retaliation that the Boston District, EEO REFUSED TO INVESTIGATE.
Agencies policing themselves are a joke. So called neutral third parties prove to be just as inept. Colonel Nicole Plourde, Commander, white female avoided me like the plague, when I notified her of the harassment I endured and continued to endure under her administration, she wrote in her Notice of Decision to Remove that “it didn’t matter”. At no time did anyone attempt an investigation. Agency made me the scapegoat for its hostile working environment by identifying me, the African-American female union president as the cause of labor/management strife. This in spite of the agency’s own report that showed the issues complained of were systemic and started years before I even arrived in the agency. Agency promised anonymity to everyone after it ordered a climate survey review then published an executive summary identifying the union president as the source of the agency’s problems.
Repeated attempts to get my story out have been buried and in spite of an extensive writing campaign, no relief has been granted.
I, too, am writing my personal story and hope to have it published so those interested can see first-hand what the Department of Defense does to a three-strike:
(1) African-american,
(2) female
and
(3) yankee employee who transfers to the south for a better life and dare to stand up to an institution of racism.
As one manager stated, I had three strikes against me and my efforts cost me a 25 year government career! Thank God that the media intervened on Ms. Sherrod’s behalf. My story could easily have become her story.
Makes me wonder how many federal employees have lost everything because they dared speak out?
This letter came to us in response to: Shirley Sherrod’s Bizarre Week in the Sacrifice Zone by Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
The No FEAR Institute 
My name is Terry Brand. I too am a victim of retaliation and discrimination from the USDA. I was employed by the USDA for nearly 22 years until September 2011. I have fought tooth and nail for my rights and dignity since December 2005. I was GS-7 Consumer Safety Inspector and took great pride in my career and my agency. When an incident that involved myself and another inspector was witnessed by our supervisor, I assumed the he would resolve the situation according to our rules, regulations and directives. Instead he botched to situation and lied about me. Since that time he has been caught in a series of lies. He has harassed and retaliated against me countless times and I in turn tried to use the system to fight back. To no avail. My “resources” at our district office, the USDA Civil Rights, and even the EEOC have been useless. During this time frame I have been reprimanded, suspended three times, and eventually terminated due the corrupt nature of the USDA and the EEOC’s lack of promised enforcement. I did everything by the book to defend myself through the system, but I could never produce enough evidence in the USDA eyes. The plant where I was stationed has been in the news more times than I can count for violations, but my former immediate superiors find a way to elude scrutiny. But the inspectors out there doing the grunt work, trying to ensure the public safety catch hell trying to do their job and fighting for their rights. The USDA is corrupt. Period. Someone needs to investigate this agency because the public does not know the “politricks” going on behind the scenes. If there is anyone out there who can help with this corruption, please, STEP UP TO THE PLATE.