Judge Green-Lights Secret Service Agent's Retaliation Case

Judge Green-Lights Secret Service Agent's Retaliation Case Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics , A federal judge has allowed most claims in a senior Secret Service agent’s lawsuit alleging a hostile workplace, retaliation, and discrimination to move forward despite Department of Homeland Security opposition, according to court documents. Rashid Ellis, a 14-year veteran of the agency with expertise in drone systems, sued DHS, which oversees the Secret Service, three months before the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Ellis’ lawsuit accuses agency leaders of dismissing complaints, elevating problematic colleagues to oversight positions, and punishing him for advocating for advancements in drone technology and racial unity within the agency. The claims of retaliation, discrimination, and hostile work environment took place when Alejandro Mayorkas was DHS secretary and Kimberly Cheatle ran the Secret Service. Cheatle was forced to resign after severe criticism of her testimony to Congress about the Butler failures. Even though Ellis’ former agency is now led by Trump-appointed Secretary Kristi Noem and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, so far there has been no effort to settle the case out of court. Ruling Preserves Ellis’ Core Allegations U.S. District Judge Emmit Sullivan ruled in late September that most of the claims in Ellis’ lawsuit could proceed. The decision, which RealClearPolitics is first to report, rejects the government’s motion to dismiss the case, clearing the path for legal discovery into allegations of systemic leadership failings, which Ellis argues enabled bias, stifled innovation, and endangered the agency’s mission. A graduate of The Citadel who was consistently awarded “exceeds expectations” ratings in his performance reviews, Ellis served on former President Joe Biden’s protective detail, the elite Counter Assault Team, and as an instructor at the Secret Service’s James J. Rowley Training Center on counter-surveillance and the use of drones. H is role as the Secret Service point person for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, a lobbying entity that offers legal services, retirement benefits, and other support, amplified his advocacy for racial equality. Ellis argues it also made him a target for Secret Service leadership. Multiple Secret Service shortcomings were evident in Butler on the day Trump was nearly killed, including the failure to detect the shooter’s drone in the air over the rally site. On the one-year anniversary of the Butler assassination attempt, the Secret Service announced reforms, including the creation of an Aviation and Airspace Security division “dedicated to maintaining the agency’s critical aerial monitoring capabilities.” Ellis’ lawsuit detailing his experiences with Cheatle at the helm, which RCP reported on last year, reads like a case study of the agency leaders’ long-running tendency to engage in petty squabbles, favoritism, and retaliation instead of keeping its focus on the big picture - its mission of protecting presidents, vice presidents, Cabinet members, and former presidents. In a detailed 63-page opinion, Sullivan determined that Ellis had sufficiently alleged civil rights violations. The judge was unpersuaded by DHS attorneys’ arguments, including that Ellis didn’t truly suffer any adverse action because...

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