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Class Action Suit » Summary Judgment to the Government
04-12-2008

To All FHLEOA Members and Supporters:

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On March 20, 2007, United States District Judge James Robertson dismissed the DHS/ Legacy U.S. Customs Hispanic Agents class action discrimination lawsuit.

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The judge, in his ruling granting summary judgment to the government, said the agents failed to produce sufficient statistical evidence to carry the burden of proof in the case. The lawsuit, which has its roots in an Equal Employment Opportunity action filed in the mid-1990s, alleged that U.S. Customs since the 1970s has subjected Hispanic agents to a widespread pattern of discrimination in terms of training, promotions and discipline.

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The class action lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which replaced U.S. Customs as part of the creation of DHS. The litigation was filed in federal court in May 2002.

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The dismissal of the lawsuit, however, does not mean DHS (or the now-absorbed U.S. Customs Service) are somehow suddenly absolved of engaging in discriminatory practices against Hispanic agents. It only indicates that the agents were unable to mount an effective case against the legal firepower of the federal government. At one point in the discovery process, for example, the government produced some 180,000 pages of documents and, according to the attorneys, a flawed statistical analysis of those documents contributed to the dismissal.

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This is a pyrrhic victory for DHS. Because now, several of the participating agents in the class are free to pursue individual discrimination claims against DHS.

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“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

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Alexander Graham Bell

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Ruben E. Gonzalez FHLEOA VP

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Attached is the judge's ruling in the class-action case.

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