By Drew Long
cyberFEDSŪ Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of female firefighters have filed a class action complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the U.S. Forest Service and the Agriculture Department, alleging sexual and physical assault and discrimination that has made it difficult for them to perform their jobs in the California forests -- one of the country's most active wildfire regions.
The complaint, Opliger v. Veneman, was accepted by the EEOC, and covers all 288 of the Forest Service's Region 5 permanent female firefighters and 375 temporary firefighters. Region 5 covers the state of California.
Lesa Donnelly, vice president of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and lead class agent in an earlier class action against the USDA, said the female firefighters planned to abandon the EEOC complaint in August and file a class action lawsuit in federal court. Under current law, federal employees must first go through the EEOC and wait 180 days before going to federal court.
Forest Service spokesman Dave Reider told cyberFEDSŪ the agency is aware of the class action, but declined comment on pending litigation. Reider did say that the Forest Service was not aware of any specific complaint by the female firefighters.
According to the complaint, the firefighters were subjected to unwelcome sexual conduct on the job. The conduct included sexual and physical assaults, as well as unequal treatment in terms of hiring, training and promotions.The class action seeks injunctive relief for the female firefighters, including training, promotions and improved fire assignments. In addition, the class complaint seeks full implementation of a settlement reached in a prior class complaint, Donnelly v. Veneman, C-95-4389.
In 1995, 6,000 Forest Service Region 5 female employees filed the Donnelly class action alleging sexual harassment, hostile environment and reprisal. Donnelly was eventually settled.
However, members of the Donnelly class action allege that the Forest Service and its parent department, the USDA, have not complied with the settlement conditions.
"Since the 2002 implementation of the settlement agreement, female employees have been sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, stalked, threatened and retaliated against for making complaints of sexual harassment and sex-based harassment," the coalition said in a statement. "The [Forest Service] has taken little-to-no action against the perpetrators, yet women are being disciplined and fired for making complaints."
Donnelly said she expected to return to federal court within the next few months due to the Forest Service's alleged inaction on the Donnelly settlement.