After yet another government invocation of the state secrets doctrine, a federal court in Virginia tossed out a lawsuit brought by a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency who alleged he was the victim of discrimination in the workplace.
In an opinion published by Courthouse News, US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled that “the Plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed under the state secrets privilege.” He added that “privileged information is at the heart of Plaintiffs claims for discrimination on the basis of disability and race, hostile work environment and retaliation,” and that the government “cannot defend this action without relying on privileged information.”
Judge Lee went on to say that further litigation in the matter could “present an unjustifiable risk of disclosure of classified information” that could compromise CIA identities, facilities, and sources and methods.
The ruling effectively blocks any legal recourse for the plaintiff in the case, who was referenced in the court documents under the pseudonym of Jacob Abilt.
Abilt, who had been working with the CIA since 2008, says the CIA was made aware of his medical condition of narcolepsy when he was hired, and that arrangements were made with his supervisors that allowed him to take naps at his desk during work in exchange for staying late and working during lunch break.
Despite that, Abilt says his supervisors would “harass him whenever they witnessed him taking naps at his desk,” and blamed his disability for below-standard work performance, despite receiving honor from the agency for a project that he worked on overseas.
“Plaintiff claims that between February and July 2011, Plaintiff was subjected to a continuous pattern of harassment calculated to lead to his termination,” court documents stated.
“The harassment included the submission of weekly reports, attendance at weekly meetings with supervisors, false accusations of poor work performance, harassment about his disability and accommodations, confronting Plaintiff with complaints solicited from co-workers and communicating with Plaintiff in a demeaning manner.”
Abilt, who is black, said the discrimination was based on his disability and race. He also said he was punished for complaining about his managers to the CIA Equal Employment Opportunity Office.
Given the nature of Abilt’s work at the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, he understood that classified information was relevant to his case. He had argued, unsuccesfully, that the court could “reach an informed decision about whether he was terminated because of discriminatory bias…without considering classified information.” Abilt added that “pseudonyms and protective orders” could further be used to protect national security interests.
In previous reporting, The Sentinel has noted the eagerness with which the intelligence community invokes state secrets privileges, especially in cases where there’s no clear evidence that disclosure would threaten the security of Americans.
In California last week, a district court validated the government’s state secrets claim in tossing out a lawsuit alleging that the NSA’s dragnet collection of internet data—some details of which had already been made public–violated the constitution.
