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Air Marshal workplace wracked with suspicion
A quarter of Air Marshals responding to an inspector general survey say they've been discriminated against and nearly half say they fear retaliation should they report a suspected violation of the law or regulations, says the Homeland Security office of inspector general.
In a report dated Jan. 20 not posted online until Feb. 8, the DHS OIG characterizes the Air Marshal working environment as one filled with "tension, mistrust, and dislike between non-supervisory and supervisory personnel." A 2-year investigation did not turn up evidence of widespread discrimination nor retaliation, but perceptions of them are too widespread to ignore, the report says.
The working environment does not appear to have compromised the Air Marshal mission, auditors say, adding that limited transparency surrounding management decisions is at the center of perceptions that supervisors mistreat the workforce.
The audit was instigated after a January 2010 report by CNN revealed a "Jeopardy!"-style game board in the Orlando field office with derogatory categories for minorities. "For example, some Federal Air Marshals said the category ‘Our Gang' referred to African-Americans," the report says. The three Air Marshals responsible for creating the board are no longer with the service.
From February to April 2011, auditors conducted a web-based survey of Air Marshal's perceptions to which approximately half the workforce responded. Fifty-six percent of black respondents said they had been discriminated against and 67 percent of women likewise said so. Of the 32 percent that said they had been retaliated against, a fifth said they were treated unfavorable after questioning management decisions, policies or procedures. More than two thirds of those perceiving retaliation assigned blame to a senior manager in their office.
Several systematic issues have contributed to the air of mistrust the pervades the agency, according to auditors. Most Air Marshals have limited interaction with their supervisors due to the nature of the job, making establishing trust relationships difficult, they note. Discipline has been applied inconsistently from one field office to the next and the evaluation criteria for promotion into a first-line supervisor position has changed every year, the report says. The criteria for receiving a pay raise has also been unclear, bolstering the perception of favoritism.
Some Air Marshals also complain that the former Secret Service employees hired on as Air Marshal managers "have created their own elite culture within the organization that is not held accountable."
The Transportation Security Administration, of which the Air Marshal service is a part, has taken steps to improve conditions, auditors say. However "the inability of both supervisors and Federal Air Marshals to ‘let go' of past incidents that were previously addressed was a recurring theme during our review," they say.
For more:
- download the audit, OIG-12-28 (.pdf)
- download the audit, OIG-12-28 (.pdf)
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