Bernabei & Wachtel, PLLC Wins Harassment and Discrimination Case Against ATF

Last week the Department of Justice issued a non-appealable, Final Agency Decision against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives in favor of a B&W client. In a 45-page decision, DOJ found: “[T]here is ample evidence that [supervisors] displayed discriminatory animus towards various women at ATF, including [B&W client]” and “[T]here is no evidence that ATF ever took any corrective action in response to complainant’s complaints of harassment.”

Our client, a female Special Agent and 20-plus year ATF veteran, was passed over for a job she’d essentially been successfully doing for years. When she pushed back, her male supervisors – very senior managers at the Agency – referred to her as “bitch,” physically cornered her in a room to yell at her for 90 minutes and then kicked her out of the building, falsely told her she was under ethics investigation, subjected her to excess scrutiny, and attempted to shut her out of her existing job entirely.

B&W attorneys Dave Wachtel and Karen Tanenbaum represented our client through the EEO process and her request for a decision on her claims.

Among other relief, DOJ ordered ATF to offer her the job she was denied, pay her damages, and pay her attorneys fees.