An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring and Other Improper Personnel Actions in the Civil Rights Division
"Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) into allegations that political or ideological affiliations were considered in hiring, transferring, and assigning cases to career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (Department). Career attorney positions in the Department are subject to the merit system principles of the Civil Service Reform Act, which prohibit discrimination in the federal work place based on, among other things, political affiliation. See 5 U.S.C. § 2301, et seq. Complaints that politics was affecting the attorney hiring process in the Civil Rights Division received widespread public attention in April 2007 as a result of allegations by Civil Rights Division employees that Bradley S. Schlozman, a former senior Division official, hired lawyers for career positions based on their political or ideological affiliations..."