By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A female FBI trainee has become the 17th woman to claim she was sexually harassed at the bureau’s training academy in Quantico, Va.
The Florida woman who was discharged from the training academy joined a lawsuit that alleges the academy is a “good-old-boy network” that exposes women to a hostile work environment, inappropriate jokes and sexual advances beginning in 2015.
The lawsuit was amended to include the unidentified woman’s accusations, The Washington Times reports.
The trainee alleges her male supervisors effectively discharged her by issuing numerous situations known as “suitability notations,” which instructors hand out for issues ranging from insubordination to inability to complete a task.
The suit, filed in May, claims some of the women were discriminated against based on their race or disabilities. One African American trainee alleges an instructor called her “spaghetti head” because of her braids.
The lawsuit zeroed in on the mock town known as Hogan’s Alley, where trainees learn about tactical training with fake criminals and terrorists. This phase of training resulted in many women being kicked out of the academy.
At the time of the suit, seven of the 16 women still worked for the FBI.
The women are asking for more female training instructors, an examination of the training evaluation process and $300,000 each for emotional stress.
The FBI has declined to publicly comment on the case.
