Justice Dept. Used Pregnancy As Excuse To Appoint Griffin, Possibly Violating Discrimination Act

[maddezmom]

In June 2006, the Justice Department fired Bud Cummins as U.S. attorney in Arkansas and replaced him with Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin.

Traditionally, the Justice Department works with the state’s senators to come up with a replacement U.S. attorney. But in a Feb. 6, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) confirmed that the Bush administration ignored his objections to Griffin.

In a Dec. 26, 2006 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse explained that they “temporarily” appointed Griffin, rather than Bud Cummins’ deputy Jane Duke, because Duke was pregnant:

He noted that often, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the affected district will serve as the acting U.S. attorney until the formal nomination process begins for a replacement. But in this case, “the first assistant is on maternity leave,” he said, referring to Jane Duke, who gave birth to twins earlier than expected the same week of the announcement.

more:http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/20/griffin-pregnancy-doj/

[Kber]

1. So the first assistant was passed up for a promotion

'cause she was pregnant?

And they put that in writing?

As a former HR professional, my head just exploded.

[ThomCat]

2. It's totally amazing that anyone could discriminate so blatantly

and not even realize that it's a bad thing. x(