Would This Be Discrimination?

[gtzdad]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

I work for Customs and Border Protection and live in Presidio, TX. My home is roughly 1 mile from the international bridge where most of the town I live in happens to be Permanent Residents. The town across the border from Presidio is relatively safe, so we frequent the places there since it is much more developed than Presidio. I shop for groceries, hang out there etc...along with the majority of the other Agents. In fact, the majority of the agents who are married, found their wives in Mexico.

2 days ago, I was stopped off duty by the Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge and told to go speak with one of the Field Operations Supervisors.(FOS) I believed it was related to something else, and therefore had no reason to be concerned about the conversation.

When I entered the FOS's office he explained that there was a complaint made about a problem in our govt. quarters compound. He then asked me if my home was the one with a particular vehicle in the driveway, to which I answered yes. He then asked me who the person was that had a Chihuahua, Mexico plated vehicle that was also parked in my driveway. I told him it was a woman I was seeing.

He told me that the complaint was brought to him regarding my integrity because this vehicle was in my driveway. He went further to say that the complaint was made by a person higher than he was and he would do what he could to prevent it from going higher, but he wasn't sure if he could. He told me it was in my best interest not to have her over my house again or it could turn into something much more severe.

I walked out of the office dumbfounded.

Where I live, there are at least 6 other agents that I have verified, who have had women they are dating from Mexico at their homes on a much more regular basis than I. There are 4 Agents, including the 3rd Agent in charge of the station who in fact married women from Ojinaga Mexico. I asked these Agents if they had ever been spoken to about their involvement with women from Mexico, and they all answered no. All of these Agents are White or Hispanic as well.

Also about 1 week ago, an EEOC complaint filed by another Agent contained my name as being someone that he has spoken too about racial bias at our station. I had no idea that he was going to mention my name, it was just a general conversation...or so I thought. Another Agent who was mentioned also has a brush with management regarding housing he lived in prior to getting govt. housing. Management threatened his job due to a complaint that was supposedly brought to their attention by the former landlord of this agent. The Union investigated and found out that this was trumped up after speaking with the landlord and getting a written statement from her saying so.

I have never been the one to use race or even think that it was an issue here, until now. I am the only Black Agent at the station, and never have I felt so isolated in my life. I'm confused as to how I should feel because I am the ONLY one to have been spoken to about having girlfriends from Mexico while other Agents who have exacting situations have NEVER been spoken to.

I'm also thinking it could be a subtle move in the direction of retaliation because of the EEOC complaint. I'm wondering what course of direction I should take here because if it is discrimination, which it feels like, I want to file my own EEOC complaint. However it also feels like it could be retaliation as well, so the whistleblower act would come into play here as well.

I have never done anything to cause someone to question my integrity, and my peers along with Direct Line Supervisors Agree. I have minimal contact with management, and the complaint came from a member of management. I have proudly and honorably served my country for 9 years and would never do anything to compromise the reputation I have for maintaining the highest degree of integrity and faithfulness to the country I love.

What does this sound like to you?

 

[mlane58]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

I work for Customs and Border Protection and live in Presidio, TX. My home is roughly 1 mile from the international bridge where most of the town I live in happens to be Permanent Residents. The town across the border from Presidio is relatively safe, so we frequent the places there since it is much more developed than Presidio. I shop for groceries, hang out there etc...along with the majority of the other Agents. In fact, the majority of the agents who are married, found their wives in Mexico.

2 days ago, I was stopped off duty by the Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge and told to go speak with one of the Field Operations Supervisors.(FOS) I believed it was related to something else, and therefore had no reason to be concerned about the conversation.

When I entered the FOS's office he explained that there was a complaint made about a problem in our govt. quarters compound. He then asked me if my home was the one with a particular vehicle in the driveway, to which I answered yes. He then asked me who the person was that had a Chihuahua, Mexico plated vehicle that was also parked in my driveway. I told him it was a woman I was seeing.

He told me that the complaint was brought to him regarding my integrity because this vehicle was in my driveway. He went further to say that the complaint was made by a person higher than he was and he would do what he could to prevent it from going higher, but he wasn't sure if he could. He told me it was in my best interest not to have her over my house again or it could turn into something much more severe.

I walked out of the office dumbfounded.

Where I live, there are at least 6 other agents that I have verified, who have had women they are dating from Mexico at their homes on a much more regular basis than I. There are 4 Agents, including the 3rd Agent in charge of the station who in fact married women from Ojinaga Mexico. I asked these Agents if they had ever been spoken to about their involvement with women from Mexico, and they all answered no. All of these Agents are White or Hispanic as well.

Also about 1 week ago, an EEOC complaint filed by another Agent contained my name as being someone that he has spoken too about racial bias at our station. I had no idea that he was going to mention my name, it was just a general conversation...or so I thought. Another Agent who was mentioned also has a brush with management regarding housing he lived in prior to getting govt. housing. Management threatened his job due to a complaint that was supposedly brought to their attention by the former landlord of this agent. The Union investigated and found out that this was trumped up after speaking with the landlord and getting a written statement from her saying so.

I have never been the one to use race or even think that it was an issue here, until now. I am the only Black Agent at the station, and never have I felt so isolated in my life. I'm confused as to how I should feel because I am the ONLY one to have been spoken to about having girlfriends from Mexico while other Agents who have exacting situations have NEVER been spoken to.

I'm also thinking it could be a subtle move in the direction of retaliation because of the EEOC complaint. I'm wondering what course of direction I should take here because if it is discrimination, which it feels like, I want to file my own EEOC complaint. However it also feels like it could be retaliation as well, so the whistleblower act would come into play here as well.

I have never done anything to cause someone to question my integrity, and my peers along with Direct Line Supervisors Agree. I have minimal contact with management, and the complaint came from a member of management. I have proudly and honorably served my country for 9 years and would never do anything to compromise the reputation I have for maintaining the highest degree of integrity and faithfulness to the country I love.

What does this sound like to you?

Nothing you posted sounds like discrimination or retaliation at all. If you feel this issue needs to be taken further, contact your union rep and have them look into it. Just because you feel something, doesn't mean the employer has violated any laws. You can certainly file with the EEOC, but be prepared to have submit something concrete in your allegations.

 

[janimal]

As I understand this - so far you were questioned about a foreign vehicle being in your driveway. No job action has been taken against you, right? It sounds like your home is on your employer's property, and your supervisor has advised you not to have a foreign vehicle on the property, because of your position as a border agent, the presence of such a vehicle could arouse questioning. That doesn't sound unreasonable. While it might be a pain in the neck to limit your friends' visits to your home from Mexico -- since it's not your property, you have to follow someone else's rules. Being asked a question about a vehicle at your home is all that as happened. By itself, that's nothing.

You say you feel isolated -- why? What else has happened besides this conversation?

Your perception seems to be that there is more to these questions, relating to a recent EEOC allegation that your name came up in, and you feel like there may be illegal discrimination or retaliation against you going on. But at the present time, that appears to be just a feeling you have. And your feeling alone doesn't have any validation in a claim of illegal discrimination or retaliation. It doesn't sound like there is any basis for any such claim at all at this point. Again, no job action has been taken. You were asked a question. About a foreign vehicle, on a border agent's government provided residence. Unless I am missing something -- what this sounds like to me is -- nothing much at all.

I'm not saying your feeling is wrong. For all we know they are plotting and cackling over your future right now. But given what you have told us -- that's a stretch.

If something else happens, come fill us in.

What would be interesting is to hear more about the EEOC claim, what your involvement is, what you said in your "general conversation" and how you were named in the claim.

 

[justalayman]

the car or owner of the car in question might also be under suspicion of being used in illegal activities and the boss is trying to give you a nudge to not be in the middle of this without spilling the beans.

 

[gtzdad]

As I understand this - so far you were questioned about a foreign vehicle being in your driveway. No job action has been taken against you, right? It sounds like your home is on your employer's property, and your supervisor has advised you not to have a foreign vehicle on the property, because of your position as a border agent, the presence of such a vehicle could arouse questioning. That doesn't sound unreasonable. While it might be a pain in the neck to limit your friends' visits to your home from Mexico -- since it's not your property, you have to follow someone else's rules. Being asked a question about a vehicle at your home is all that as happened. By itself, that's nothing.

You say you feel isolated -- why? What else has happened besides this conversation?

Your perception seems to be that there is more to these questions, relating to a recent EEOC allegation that your name came up in, and you feel like there may be illegal discrimination or retaliation against you going on. But at the present time, that appears to be just a feeling you have. And your feeling alone doesn't have any validation in a claim of illegal discrimination or retaliation. It doesn't sound like there is any basis for any such claim at all at this point. Again, no job action has been taken. You were asked a question. About a foreign vehicle, on a border agent's government provided residence. Unless I am missing something -- what this sounds like to me is -- nothing much at all.

I'm not saying your feeling is wrong. For all we know they are plotting and cackling over your future right now. But given what you have told us -- that's a stretch.

If something else happens, come fill us in.

What would be interesting is to hear more about the EEOC claim, what your involvement is, what you said in your "general conversation" and how you were named in the claim.

Thanks fr the response. The government housing is actually not on government property where I'm at (they lease the land) and the housing belongs to CBP. However, we sign lease agreements, and nowhere in those agreements do they state they can limit whom we have at our homes.

I called the Sector HQ and asked the housing Supervisor if they could deprive me of the right to have who I wish at my home and he said no. The only time they can do that is when the person I am associating with is known to be involved in some type of illegal activity...which of course would be followed by disciplinary action.

This girl that I am seeing is not illegal, and to my knowledge not involved in anything illegal either. Although there hasn't been any action on behalf of management, it was implied/threatened that there would be if I continued to see this woman, which makes me think that they are plotting and scheming on something in the least.

The problem that I have with feeling singled out is that there are numerous agents that have vehicles with Mexican plates at their homes all the time. In fact one of them lives next door to the PAIC of the station. When I asked, he told me he has never been questioned about it. There are other agents, off the top of my head 5, that live where I do and have never been questioned about having these vehicles in their driveways, nor told not to have them there. I know for a fact that the APAIC(the one I believe generated the complaint against me) has seen those vehicles because they are in his path coming to and from work. They are also there WAY more often than the girl that comes to see me. My friend has been to my home only 3 times, whereas these guys have their girlfriends there every week.

It's due to the facts above, along with nobody having ever been spoken to but me, that I feel isolated. The EEOC complaint you are asking about was from another agent who was applying for a Supervisory position and was turned down in favor of a white agent who had less time in and a fie about 4 inches thick. He asked me if I had ever felt there was racism problem at the station, to which I responded yes. I then gathered the nerve to go and talk to P-5 (the man who spoke to me about having my girlfriend at my home) about the issues I believed needed to be discussed such as race, experience, and the feeling that Interns have about not being able to speak up when they have problems.

It was a general conversation with this agent, and I never expected him to put all of that in his complaint, but he did.

I will keep you all informed on anything that occurs here in the future, but for now I'm on vacation so it may be 2 weeks before I give any updates other than what you see here. Thanks for taking your time to read and respond, I really appreciate it.