Rutgers

"The program showed disturbing video of Rice pushing players during practice, throwing balls at their legs and heads, and verbally assaulting them with homophobic slurs. This was apparently done in an effort to motivate his players to play better."

The DHS supervisor said, “Shut your mouth, whore, when men are speaking,” more than once and made other denigrating comments towards my mother (witnessed by her coworkers). The entire management has intentionally bombarded my mother with disparate treatment because she would not acquiesce. This has been going on since March 2010. Nobody has done anything to help.

"The university originally saw the footage in December and chose at that time to only suspend Rice for three games and fine him. Last Wednesday, the university administration chose to fire Rice after the university listened to the considerable public outcry for his ouster."

Rutgers knew about this for months, and only fired him after coming under fire from the public. The United States DHS has known about the harassment of my mother for years and have taken no action to stop it. This needs national attention.

"Pernetti said in his press statement that at the time of the initial showing of the videos, 'Rutgers chose instead to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals and outside counsel. The consensus was that the university policy would not justify dismissal. I have regretted my role in, and regret for, that decision.'"

A National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) representative told my mother the supervisor has a “Rabbi," a high ranking government official who uses his or her influence to secure positions for others, protecting him. Instead of the agency holding the supervisor accountable for his actions, the agency managers and attorneys protected and attempted to cover up the supervisor’s actions.

"We understand that college athletics earn universities millions of dollars, and that these players and coaches are performing at high levels and are under a lot of pressure. That, however, does not condone any coach to use physical force or to verbally abuse any player in the name of winning. There is no place in our society for any of that behavior. We also feel for the students involved because they are essentially at the will of the university, and probably felt they didn’t have a choice but to endure it. Yes, most players on the team are receiving scholarships to play, but most of them feel they have no place to which to turn if they want to continue playing basketball at the collegiate level. They do not want to become black-listed for walking out of a program or appearing undisciplined to other coaches."

My mother is not an athlete on an elite team receiving abuse by a coach. She is a United States federal employee, on the front lines between the homeland and external threats, who received abuse by her supervisor and then harassment because she stood up for herself. She is at will to maintaining a paycheck to support her family and doesn’t have a place to turn. Instead of the agency following procedures and protecting her basic civil rights, it black-listed her.