At a USDA event for Black History Month last week, Rosetta Davis took the stage to describe her experiences of sexual harassment and retaliation during her 16 years working for the agency. Davis, who filed a lawsuit last year against multiple USDA employees and officials, has brought four separate equal employment opportunity complaints since 2002.
Davis alleges that she was asked for sex in exchange for a promotion, and after the fact became a victim of ongoing harassment and retaliation. She never received a promotion and says the USDA took no action on her 2002 and 2009 complaints. Since her speech last week, the USDA has placed her on paid administrative leave.
The USDA’s Civil Rights office has long faced criticism that it receives a high number of EEOC complaints and has historically failed to address them in a timely manner. There is also significant historical documentation of the USDA’s institutional discrimination against black and other minority farmers and employees.