Janet Napolitano's aides 'sexually humiliated' male agents

The US Secretary of Homeland Security ran her department like a female "frat house" where men were routinely bullied and sexually humiliated, according to a lawsuit filed by a former official.

President Barack Obama is briefed in the Oval Office on the Gulf spill by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones
Janet Napolitano (centre) serves in Barack Obama's cabinet

Janet Napolitano, who was handpicked by President Barack Obama to defend America's borders, allegedly allowed a female subordinate to terrorise some of the country's most senior security officials while moving less-experienced women to top roles.

The lawsuit alleges that Suzanne Barr, Miss Napolitano's chief of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would regularly carry out "sexually offensive" behaviour intended to "humiliate and intimidate male employees".

On one occasion Miss Barr allegedly called a male staffer in his hotel room one a work trip and screamed sexual abuse down the phone at him, telling him she wanted to perform oral sex on him.

In the spring of 2009, Miss Barr was said to have "removed the entire contents of the offices of three male employees, including nameplates, computers and telephones, to the men’s bathroom at ICE headquarters".

According to court documents she also snatched one special agent's work Blackberrry and used it to message the man's female supervisor with a message claiming that "fantasised" about her.

"Barr also created a frat-house type atmosphere that is targeted to humiliate and intimidate male employees," according to the legal complaint. "Further, Barr promoted and otherwise rewarded those male employees who play along with her sexually charged games."

The allegations emerged in a discrimination suit filed by James Hayes, a senior official at ICE, who accused Miss Napolitano of pushing him aside in favour of Dora Schirro, a long-time aide and confidante.

Mr Hayes, whose role put him in charge of 8,500 staff and a budget of $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion), alleged that Dr Schriro was sent to senior meetings instead him of despite having little law enforcement experience.

"Schriro did have experience, however, working with Secretary Napolitano," he said in court documents. "Schriro enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the secretary."

He added that was "being replaced in his duties because of this relationship and because he was not female".

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created by George W Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks or organise the US's internal security arrangements.

Miss Napolitano's position makes her the equivalent of Britain's Home Secretary. Critics of her department's enormous budget and intrusive security measures sometimes refer to her disparagingly as "Big Sister".

Both Dr Schirio and Miss Barr were brought to DHS by Miss Napolitano, who was Governor of Arizona before being asked to serve in Mr Obama's cabinet in 2009.

In his lawsuit, Mr Hayes requested that the matter be settled by a jury trial - raising the embarrassing possibility that Miss Napolitano could be forced to appear in court to testify about the allegations.

Mr Hayes, who is seeking $335,000 in damages, said that Miss Napolitano allowed Miss Barr to "target" him because of his gender and held conference calls with his colleagues to "discuss possible excuses" for sacking him.

As the bureaucratic warfare grew more bitter, he said that Dr Schriro tried to make his own staff copy her in all e-mails and one point asked Mr Hayes's chief of staff to begin informing her of his movements and activities.

Mr Hayes eventually left ICE's headquarters in Washington DC and transferred to become Special Agent-in-Charge of the agency's New York bureau.

Dr Shirio was hired in 2009 to serve as the commissioner of New York's Department of Correction, while Miss Barr remains in her post as chief of staff at ICE.

A spokesman for ICE dismissed the suit, saying: “ICE doesn’t comment on unfounded claims and will respond to Mr. Hayes’s allegations as appropriate through the judicial system.”