Many Black federal government workers are anxious about their jobs in the wake of President Trump’s Jan. 23 hiring freeze on all but military, public safety and national security positions. Retired deputy U.S. Marshal David Grogan has some advice that can help people stay employed.
Grogan worked as a supervisory criminal investigator/deputy U.S. Marshal at the District of Columbia Superior Court from September 1988 to June 2013. During his time at U.S. Marshal Service, Grogan trained deputy U.S. Marshals, oversaw fugitive investigations and court-ordered seizures of narcotics, and implemented criminal investigations.
David Grogan, federal discrimination whistleblower. (Courtesy Photo)
However, when Grogan felt he was passed over for promotions and spoke about it, he told the AFRO that he became a target on his job. “I blew the whistle on corruption and racism within the U.S. Marshal Service,” Grogan. “I signed on as a plaintiff in a $300 million lawsuit on behalf of the Marshal Service. An African American could rise to the level of mid-management but when it came to senior-level management, we couldn’t get there.”
Grogan retired in 2013 and settled his portion of the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount in May of that year but not without episodes of disrespect by White supervisors, he said
The federal workforce is 20 percent Black and many Blacks, who work for the national government, reside in the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County.
Grogan said the hiring freeze or any negative employment action will impact Blacks more than Whites.
“With the new administration in place, I guess efforts to hinder Black advancement will intensify,” he said. “This will particularly be the case if Jeff Sessions becomes the attorney general as he has shown little interest in the rights of Black federal workers.”
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) blasted the hiring freeze, saying Jan. 23 on Twitter: “preparing to fight for fed workers after double attack-hiring freeze & rule allowing to target fed employees’ salaries without due process.”
David Cox, president of American Federation of Government Employees located in Northwest D.C., also denounced the hiring freeze. “President Trump’s action will disrupt government programs and services that benefit everyone and actually increase taxpayer costs by forcing agencies to hire more expensive contractors to do work that civilian government employees are already doing for far less,” Cox said.
Grogan, who is an active member of the National Organization of Blacks in Law Enforcement Executives, as well as a lifetime member of the NAACP, has been a speaker at conferences on whistleblowing and fighting discrimination. His advice for Black federal employees: “watch your back.”
“Black employees need to understand their environment,” he said. “As a Black employee, you are held to a different standard than Whites are and there is no room for error. While your White colleagues are friendly to you, Black employees must understand that White privilege doesn’t extend to you.”
Grogan said that Black employees must “record and document everything on the job so if there is an investigation of your work, the record is clear.”