REUTERS/ Rebecca Cook
Scott Bloch - whose tenure was filled with controversy - went to great lengths to make life difficult for gay workers in the OSP, that agency's inspector general found. Bloch even told government contractor Richard Trefry that he planned to create a Detroit office just for the gays, according to the report, which was posted by the Blog of the Legal Times.
From the report:
General Trefry told the investigative team that Mr. Bloch spoke with him in detail about the way in which he intended to "ship out" homosexual employees. The general indicated that Mr. Bloch stated that his plan was to create a new OSC field office in Detroit, Michigan and assign to it the homosexual employees, along with others who he (Bloch) viewed as exerting a negative influence on the agency.
The Washington Blade reported back in 2008 that a number of gay employees resigned rather than transferring offices.
This report is by far not the first news of Bloch's animus toward gays. Back in 2004, Gay City News reported that Bloch had removed language from OSC training materials that specifically said discrimination based on sexual orientation there was banned.
The long-awaited investigation from OSP's inspector general comes six months after Bloch was sentenced to a day in jail and two years in probation for destroying government property.
Bloch was charged with hiring a company called Geeks On Call to delete files from work computers including his own during an investigation into his alleged conduct, the Blog of the Legal Times reported.
The FBI raided his office in 2008 amid allegations that he'd dismissed whistleblower complaints, retaliated against employees, and otherwise abused his authority, the Wall Street Journal reported.