Was The Firing of U.S. Attorney Iglesias, Discrimination?

by S-Q @ 5:00 PM MDT




Raw Story

"I want to make sure they didn't fire me because of my military duty,” Iglesias told Newsweek. "When I was away from the office, it wasn't like I was going on vacation in Europe."


A fired U.S. Attorney is "striking back" at the Bush administration for what he feels is his improper dismissal, Newsweek reports.

"The Justice Department called David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, an 'absentee landlord' -- a key reason listed for his firing last December," write Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball for Newsweek. "Just one problem: Iglesias, a captain in the Navy Reserve, was off teaching classes as part of the war on terror."

The explanation used by aides to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the firing of Iglesias -- that, among other things, he "was spending too much time away from the office" -- may be a further complication in the embattled Gonzales' struggle for self-preservation.

According to Newsweek, Iglesias confirmed "that he was recently questioned by lawyers for the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal watchdog agency, to determine if his dismissal was a violation" of a federal law (USERRA) barring workplace discrimination against U.S. military servicemembers.