By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
One accountant at Metro took Federal Income Tax 1, a course at the University of Maryland University College described as "an introduction to federal taxation." Another took Intermediate Accounting 1. Several other Metro workers in financially sensitive positions — who help oversee million-dollar contracts — used the transit authority's tuition reimbursement program to enroll in introductory courses on contracts or business.
Ninety-seven percent of the bus and train operators at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority are black, with only six white women out of more than 3,000 drivers, according to Metro documents — a lack of diversity at one of the region's largest employers that has led to an acknowledgment of failure in affirmative-action documents and spawned a series of lawsuits.
