U.S. Probes Disparity Between Firing of Minorities, Whites

The Clinton Administration has launched an extensive inquiry to try to determine why minority employees in the federal government are fired at almost three times the rate of white workers.

The government-wide inquiry will rely on analytical studies, focus groups and agency reviews to try to explain the disparity. One personnel specialist said he had never seen such a broad attack focused on such a specific personnel issue in his 30-year government career.

Government statistics, released in mid-December, showed that minority workers were fired at a rate of 10.2 per 1,000 employees, while whites were fired at a rate of 3.7 per 1,000 workers. The fiscal 1992 data raised concerns about whether minority workers are treated unfairly and led to calls for remedial action.

By better understanding the difference in discharge rates, “we can devise actions to ensure continuing fairness for all employees,” James B. King, director of the Office of Personnel Management, said in a memo sent to all departments and agency heads.

The agency, which oversees the civil service employment system, will provide agencies with data on their firing rates.

In a memo released Friday, King also said the Merit Systems Protection Board, the federal agency that rules on worker appeals of personnel actions, also has begun a study. It will focus on “whether there are attitudinal or other non-merit related causes which may underline the racially disparate imposition of punishments,” King wrote.