NCJ Number
187837
Journal
Washington Post Magazine Issue: January 7, 2001 Dated: January 2001 Pages: 8-15,21,22
Date Published
January 2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article examines allegations of racial prejudice within the Secret Service.
Abstract
The article describes the Secret Service career of an African American man and the events that led him to file a race-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ray Moore had been with the Secret Service for 16 years, 5 years of the time guarding the President. He had successfully completed five high-risk foreign missions, when completion of one usually was almost a guarantee of promotion. He ranked as high as 20th among the 310 most senior agents applying for advancement, and had the highest score on the service's detailed numerical system -- 98.57 out of 100 -- among all African American agents. Despite his qualifications, Moore did not receive the promotion(s) he expected, and claimed that lesser-qualified white agents were promoted instead. When Moore and the attorney who would handle the complaint put out the word about a meeting to discuss the suit, approximately 50 agents showed up. Many had experiences similar to Moore's, and ultimately nine other agents joined Moore in the race discrimination suit The Secret Service denies the charge and describes several cases where black agents have assumed very responsible, sometimes management-level positions. On December 5, 2000, the U.S. District Court heard final arguments in the Secret Service's effort to have the case dismissed on administrative grounds. The judge issued no ruling, and resolution of the case is still pending.