Home / Full timeline / United States District Court Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., of the District of Columbia, rules that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must give Black special agents preference in promotions and pay them for the period during which they suffered from a discriminatory promotions policy.
United States District Court Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., of the District of Columbia, rules that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must give Black special agents preference in promotions and pay them for the period during which they suffered from a discriminatory promotions policy.
1982 (Feb 21)
United States District Court Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., of the District of Columbia, ruled that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must give Black special agents preference in promotions and pay them for the period during which they suffered from a discriminatory promotions policy. The order required a payment of about $2 million to be shared among the hundreds of Black DEA agents, according to their attorney. The ruling also meant that one Black agent for every two whites would have to be promoted to the sixth highest pay grade, or a higher federal pay grade. Those ranks carried salaries of $33,586 to $47,500 at the time. Judge Robinson had ruled in 1981 that the drug agency discriminated against Black agents with respect to salary, entry grades, work assignments, evaluations, discipline, and promotion during the period 1972 to 1981. The new order set the amount of back pay and provided a remedy for "eliminating the effect of the discrimination in the future." The judge said the preferential promotions for Blacks must continue either for five years or "until the percentage of Blacks in the six highest pay grades reached 10 percent."
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.