Birmingham News Editor Scarritt on Alice Martin
A reader asked Birmingham News editor Tom Scarritt why the paper was not reporting on the perjury investigation of U.S. Attorney Alice Martin.
Scarritt’s email response refers to a 2004 story that mentions the perjury accusation and a 2007 story that does not. Scarritt writes, “The 2007 story does not resolve the perjury issue, so we will continue to ask about it.” (The articles Scarritt referenced are below and are available in the News archives.)
The DoJ Office of Professional Responsibility did not open its investigation of the perjury charge until this year (see this April 2007 letter in pdf). Still no mention in the Alabama press since the investigation was opened.
We appreciate Tom Scarritt’s response that The Birmingham News “will continue to ask about it.” And thank you to the reader who inquired and passed on the response.
By Val Walton News Staff Writer
Source: Birmingham News
Sunday,August 29, 2004
Edition: Volume 117 Issue 145, Section: News, Page 24-A
A former federal prosecutor fired by U.S. Attorney Alice Martin has filed complaints of perjury against Martin with the Alabama State Bar Disciplinary Board and the U.S. Office of Professional Responsibility.
Deirdra J. Brown, who worked out of the U.S. attorney’s Huntsville office from 1998 until her May 2002 termination, contends Martin perjured herself when she testified under oath about when she decided to fire Brown. Brown said among reasons she was fired was retaliation for helping her former supervisor, Victor Conrad, with a discrimination claim against the office. According to Brown, Martin testified she made a decision to fire Brown on or about March 11, 2002, long before she learned of Conrad’s claims against the office. But Brown said copies of written correspondence she received recently through the Freedom of Information Act show Martin knew of Conrad’s complaint months before she fired Brown. While Martin said in a statement released Friday she cannot comment on pending litigation, Martin said Brown’s allegations levied at her reputation and credibility are “wholly without merit.” “Ms. Brown’s allegations of perjury are not supported by the facts in this matter or in law,” Martin said. Martin said Brown’s letter to the Office of Professional Responsibility is rife with inaccuracies and misstatements. Martin said such attacks occur frequently against U.S. attorneys and assistants. Tony McLain, general counsel for the Alabama State Bar, said the organization does not com ment on whether a disciplinary referral exists. Brown, who also has a discrimination complaint pending with the federal government, said that as the first black woman to be hired in the Huntsville office, she became aware of racially hostile activities against her as early as August 1998. She shared concerns with her direct supervisor, Conrad, who is white. Brown said she put her concerns in writing in March 1999. Martin became U.S. attorney for Alabama’s Northern District in 2001, replacing Doug Jones, who is now in private practice. Brown filed suit in Birmingham’s federal court in 2002 seeking records from the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office that she said document a pattern of gender abuse and hostility against her.
By Val Walton News Staff Writer
Source: Birmingham News
Saturday,January 6, 2007
Edition: Volume 119 Issue 299, Section: LOCAL NEWS, Page 01-D
The federal government has ruled that U.S. Attorney Alice Martin wrongly fired a former assistant prosecutor in 2002.
Martin fired Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdra Brown-Fleming on grounds that she was ‘’not a team player.'’ The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found the reason was ‘’simply unworthy of credence.'’ Instead, the EEOC found that Brown-Fleming’s firing was retaliatory. The EEOC said it is unclear whether Martin harbored a racist or sexist attitude toward Brown-Fleming, but found that Martin’s assessment of Brown-Fleming’s relationship with co-workers was tainted with the racist and sexist prejudices of Brown-Fleming’s coworkers. Brown-Fleming was described as rude and condescending, documents show. The EEOC is requiring that the Department of Justice reinstate Brown-Fleming to her former job, with full back pay and other benefits. The amount of back pay was not announced. The commission also ordered the reinstatement of Brown-Fleming’s former supervisor, Victor Conrad, who took steps to correct acts of racial hostility against Brown-Fleming and filed his own discrimination claim against the agency. He also is to be reinstated with back pay. Brown-Fleming worked in the U.S. attorney’s Huntsville office from 1998 until her May 2002 firing. Martin serves as U.S. attorney for the 31 northern counties and has offices in Birmingham and Huntsville. In a Friday statement, Martin said the decision to remove Brown-Fleming was ‘’not grounded on impermissible considerations.'’ She said the Department of Justice takes allegations of discrimination very seriously. ‘’We firmly support equal employment opportunity and combating illegal discrimination in the federal workplace,'’ Martin said. Martin’s statement said the department will file a request for reconsideration. She declined further comment. Brown-Fleming said that as the first black woman to be hired in the Huntsville office, she became aware of racially hostile activities against her as early as August 1998. She shared her concerns with Conrad, who is white. Martin became U.S. attorney for Alabama’s Northern District in 2001, replacing Doug Jones, who is now in private practice. The EEOC found that the office took immediate and appropriate corrective action to address Brown-Fleming’s hostile environment after learning of her allegations. Brown-Fleming said Thursday what happened to her was not an isolated event. Brown-Fleming maintained during her five-year legal battle against the Justice Department that she was fired in retaliation for helping Conrad with a discrimination claim against the office. Brown-Fleming detailed instances of where she endured racially derogatory comments by an administrative assistant and a paralegal. Brown-Fleming said the paralegal sabotaged her work. The EEOC agreed with BrownFleming, who lives in Huntsville, that reinstating her as a Justice Department employee in the northern district is ‘’tantamount to placing her into a very antagonistic work environment.'’ If Brown-Fleming chooses not to accept the reinstatement, the Justice Department is ordered to provide her the pay she would receive if she worked there. Brown-Fleming said Thursday she expects to go back into the practice of law full time, but declined to give specifics. The EEOC also requires the U.S. attorney’s office to provide training related to anti-retaliation, discrimination and preventing and remedying harassment to all staff in Huntsville and Birmingham.
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