Mo. Guardsmen complain about discrimination

[unhappycamper]

Mo. Guardsmen complain about discrimination
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 22, 2008 12:40:38 EST

ST. LOUIS — More than a dozen Missouri National Guard members have complained that their top general discriminates based on gender and race, including two high-ranking officials who have filed federal complaints.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday that in the past two months, Lt. Col. James Tate, who is black, and Lt. Col. Nancy Jones, who is white, have filed federal discrimination complaints about Adjutant Gen. King Sidwell and his chief of staff, Col. Glenn Hagler. The complaints contend Sidwell and Hagler passed over qualified black and female officers for promotion in favor of less qualified white men.

The newspaper said also that 13 black members of the Guard, including Tate, have complained to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that Sidwell has “fostered a climate of institutional discrimination.”

Sidwell and Hagler said some complaints in the NAACP letter involve situations that were “handled poorly” by management. However, they defended themselves against the allegations made in the equal opportunity complaints, saying that the two soldiers were probably unhappy because they didn’t get jobs they wanted.

Jones, the Guard’s top adviser on discrimination allegations, said she was passed over for a job as the head of human resources in favor of a white man who didn’t apply for the job and had no experience in human resources. A 30-year veteran of the military, Jones has worked in human resources for 13 years and said she had received high marks for her work.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_guarddiscrimination_122208/%2e