GAO QUESTIONS WHETHER DEA BIAS EXISTS

WASHINGTON - The Drug Enforcement Administration's minority special agents
are punished more often for misconduct than their white male counterparts,
congressional investigators said Thursday.

The General Accounting Office said it could find no
evidence of bias against blacks and Hispanics, but asked the DEA to study
the issue.

Acting DEA Administrator John B. Brown III told the GAO in a letter that he
would look into the issue. "DEA endeavors to ensure that there is a diverse
work force at the agency," he wrote.

Black special agents sued the DEA more than two decades ago. In 1981, a
U.S. District Court judge ruled that DEA was guilty of discrimination and
ordered the agency to take steps to correct the problems. The DEA is still
working to address all of the issues raised by the court, including promotions.

In 1992, Hispanic agents settled their own job discrimination suit against
the DEA, receiving a cash award and a promise that they would be promoted
at the same rate as other agents.

The GAO study was conducted at the request of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, chairwoman of the Congressional Black
Caucus, who said she was responding to information she
had received about discrimination and retaliation against black DEA agents.

"I have long held the belief that America's work force - at all levels and
in all sectors - should reflect the faces of this nation," Johnson said.
"This report reveals that DEA will follow up with GAO on a course of action
to address recommendations included in this report, and I hope that, by
taking a closer look at how we are treating people of color in the
workplace, we have taken a step in the right direction."

Congressional investigators found that blacks, Hispanics and women were
disciplined in far greater numbers than their share of the DEA work force.
While 8.3 percent of the special agents were black, they accounted for 16
percent of the agents disciplined. Female agents accounted for 7.8 percent
of the work force but 13 percent of those punished. And Hispanics were 8.9
percent of the special agents but 15 percent of those disciplined.

The DEA could not explain the reasons for the numbers; neither could two
outside studies, the GAO said. But "minority and women special agents
perceived that these processes were not fair and had a disparate effect on
minorities," the GAO said.

A much smaller percentage of minority special agents were recommended for
promotions compared with whites, the GAO found. While 15 percent of white
applicants were recommended for a promotion, only 6 percent of blacks and 7
percent of Hispanics received the same boost.

Still, actual promotion rates were similar. The GAO found that 66 percent
of whites and 65 percent of blacks recommended for promotions received them.