This is big news, particularly for people who think that you can’t be fired because your sexual orientation in this country. Even when you think you are protected, you may not be.
Monica Goodling and D. Kyle Sampson, key aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, violated federal law and departmental policy by considering political affiliation and other improper factors in Justice Department hiring decisions, according to another devastating report from DOJ’s Inspector General and the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, issued this morning.
Read the report for yourself here; and the summary (Goodling.doc). The relevant section:
In another matter, we found that Goodling violated Department policy and federal law, and committed misconduct, when she refused to extend the detail of a career AUSA, and later tried to block the AUSA from obtaining other details, at least in part because of rumors regarding the AUSA’s sexual orientation.
The discrimination charge in the document is notable because of the interpretation of the protection in Civil Service Reform Act; there is no specific clause on sexual orientation. Read this passage from the report (below the fold) carefully…