Marsha Coleman-Adebayo (born August 18, 1952) is an American former senior policy analyst for the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA). Beginning in 1996, she filed complaints alleging that a company from the United States was mining

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an ...

in South Africa and harming the environment and human health. The EPA did not respond, and Coleman-Adebayo reported her concerns to other organizations. When the EPA subsequently did not promote Coleman-Adebayo at her request, she filed suit against the agency, alleging racial and gender discrimination. On August 18, 2000, a federal jury found EPA guilty of violating the civil rights of Coleman-Adebayo on the basis of race, sex, color and a

hostile work environment In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. However, a working environm ...

, under the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Her experience inspired passage of the Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 ( No FEAR Act). During the legal proceedings, Coleman-Adebayo remained employed at the EPA. When she was diagnosed with

hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...

, the agency agreed to let her

remote work Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of work (human activity), working at or from one's home or Third place, another space rather than from ...

. After five years and another lawsuit, the EPA ordered Coleman-Adebayo to return to the office, placing her on unpaid leave when she did not comply.Fears, D., "Coming Soon: A Tale of Whistleblowing at the EPA"

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, 10 July 2006 Coleman-Adebayo is a founder and leader of the No FEAR Coalition and EPA Employees Against Racial Discrimination. Through her leadership the No FEAR Coalition, working closely with Representative James Sensenbrenner, organized a successful grass-roots campaign and secured passage of the " Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act," the first Civil Rights Law of the 21st Century. The Act was signed into law by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in 2002. Coleman-Adebayo currently serves on the board of directors of the

National Whistleblower Center The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax exempt, educational and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by the lawyers Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP. As of June 2021, Siri Nelson is the ...

, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, advocacy group dedicated to protecting the rights of employee whistleblowers. ''Good Housekeeping'' presented her with its Women in Government award in 2003. Her first book, "No Fear: A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA" was published in September 2011 by Lawrence Hill Books. As of April 2015, she also serves on the Green Shadow Cabinet of the United States as "Director of Governmental Transparency and Accountability". In June 2015, Coleman-Adebayo endorsed

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

presidential candidate Dr.

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and perennial candidate who was the Green Party of the United States, Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the Jill Stein 2012 presidential campaign ...

while speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

*
No FEAR Coalition web siteDr. Coleman-Adebayo's induction into the Project on Government Oversight Hall of FameDr. Coleman-Adebayo bio from Barnard College

National Whistleblower Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman-Adebayo, Marsha Living people 1952 births American whistleblowers EPA whistleblowers