The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 is a
United States federal law
The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...
that seeks to discourage federal managers and supervisors from engaging in unlawful discrimination and retaliation. It is popularly called the No-FEAR Act, and is also known as Public Law 107–174.
Enactment
On August 18, 2000, a federal jury found the
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guilty of violating the civil rights of Dr.
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is an American former senior policy analyst for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beginning in 1996, she filed complaints alleging that a company from the United States was mining vanadium in South Afr ...
on the basis of race, sex, color and a hostile work environment, under the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
. She was awarded $600,000. The EPA had refused to promote
Coleman-Adebayo shortly after she alleged the presence of environmental and health problems at the
Brits, South Africa,
vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pas ...
mines.
Sparked by this outcome,
Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee introduced the No-FEAR Act into Congress. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo founded the No FEAR Institute to organize support for the bill's purposes while continuing to work for the EPA.
The No FEAR Institute spearheaded the No FEAR Coalition to advocate for passage of the Act.
President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
signed it into law on May 15, 2002, making it the first
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
law of the 21st Century.
Criticism
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and others have criticized implementation of the No-FEAR Act on grounds that agencies are abusing the provision allowing them a "reasonable" time to make their reimbursements to the General Fund of the Treasury. They have proposed a No-FEAR II Act to set a time limit for such reimbursements, and to increase the penalties for violations.
Book and movie
Coleman-Adebayo wrote a book about her experience which is in the process of being adapted into the movie ''The Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Story''
with producer and actor
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...
.
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See also
*
Civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
*
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
*
Whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
References
External links
NOTIFICATION AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEE ANTIDISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION ACT OF 2002No FEAR Coalition web pageReport of the FDAReports of the Department of Homeland Security
Acts of the 107th United States Congress
Discrimination in the United States
Freedom of expression law
Public administration
United States federal civil rights legislation
United States federal labor legislation
Whistleblower protection legislation