NATION IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Unequal Treatment of Blacks at IRS Cited

Blacks hold less than one-fourth of Internal Revenue Service jobs but receive half the employee disciplinary actions, according to a study conducted by IRS executives and officials of the National Treasury Employees Union. “We’re going to move aggressively to make sure we do not short-circuit the career advancement of our black employees or, for that matter, any of our employees,” said Michael J. Murphy, deputy IRS commissioner. A survey of IRS executives and union chapter presidents suggests blacks are disciplined more often than whites because of differing social-cultural values of managers and employees and prejudice.