The Nation - News from Aug. 16, 1988

Armando Lara, supervisory special agent at the FBI’s San Juan, Puerto Rico, office, testified in a class-action suit accusing the agency of discrimination that he applied for a manager’s position nine times and was accepted only after the suit was filed. The suit was filed in January, 1987, by Bernard Perez and 310 other Latino agents who contend the FBI’s promotion policy discriminates on the basis of race, national origin and religion. U.S. District Judge Lucius Bunton is hearing the case in El Paso without a jury. Perez contends he was denied promotion in the Los Angeles bureau because his superiors were white Mormons. Perez is a Roman Catholic. FBI Personnel Officer Dave Rarity testified that the FBI does not discriminate against Latinos.