Black FBI Agent Brings Discrimination Suit Against the Bureau

An FBI agent who served as a liaison to seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks filed a lawsuit Thursday saying the agency discriminated against him and undermined his work on the investigation into the attacks. The agent, Wilfred Samuel Rattigan, said the FBI violated his constitutional and civil rights because of his race, national origin and religious beliefs. He is seeking unspecified damages. He accused the FBI of repeatedly undermining his work, "even at the expense of compromising or delaying important investigations, including the 9/11 investigation." Rattigan claims his superiors did not want "a black man and a naturalized citizen of Jamaican descent to succeed in the bureau," particularly since he was working on such an important case. Rattigan also alleges that he was subjected to harassment and discrimination because he turned to Islam in December 2001.
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