-Caveat Lector- >From http://news.excite.com/news/r/990915/20/politics-spies-lawsuit - Female Spy Files Discrimination Suit Against CIA Updated 8:09 PM ET September 15, 1999 By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A female spy is suing the CIA claiming discrimination in job promotions after an incident in which a foreign intelligence recruit kissed her, an action the spy agency saw as a potential security breach, her lawyer said Wednesday. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Monday. "We haven't received the suit yet so we don't have any comment," a Central Intelligence Agency spokesman said. The legal action was taken by a woman identified as Grace Tilden, a pseudonym because her identity is classified secret. Between 1990 and 1998, Tilden was part of the CIA's highly clandestine "NOC" program, which stands for non-official cover. She would collect information from people known in intelligence lingo as "assets," who in some cases did not know they were informing the CIA. >From 1992 to late 1995, Tilden worked in a foreign country, described in the suit as "Foreign Location A." In 1993 she met a foreign recruit in a hotel room who "unexpectedly" kissed her on the lips, the lawsuit said. "Ms. Tilden discouraged the asset from attempting to pursue any kind of romantic relationship with her by informing him that their relationship was a professional one," the complaint said. Tilden was uncertain whether she was required to formally report the incident to the CIA and asked a female co-worker, who advised her not to worry about it because the incident was too insignificant for a formal report, the complaint said. That co-worker later told a male CIA operative about it and he included it in a written report, the lawsuit said. A few days later, Tilden was summoned to a "domestic" location for a meeting with the CIA's deputy chief of station and the chief of operations for the foreign country where she was based. CIA "employees and managers, who subscribe to unfortunate stereotypes about women, immediately presumed that Ms. Tilden was being deceptive, and that, in fact, she was engaged in a torrid love affair with an enemy agent and spilling national security secrets in bed," the complaint said. DOUBLE-STANDARD CLAIMED The lawsuit said the CIA has a double-standard in such areas and that a man would have been instructed to seduce or establish a sexual relationship with a foreign recruit to learn enemy secrets. At the worst, the man would have been informally counseled verbally, "with a wink and a nudge," not to do it again, the lawsuit said. "That's utterly ridiculous," said an intelligence official who did not want to be identified. But Tilden's lawyer, Roy Krieger, said in other cases he has handled, "we have learned that in some instances male case officers have been encouraged if not specifically instructed to develop sexual relationships or foster sexual interest in them in order to develop a potential asset." In Tilden's case, however, "she toed the line, but nonetheless she was still penalized and it's essentially because she's a female," Krieger said. That one incident put the brakes on Tilden's career at the CIA, the lawsuit said. Her caseload was stripped, she was denied additional responsibilities and put on a slower track for promotion than male colleagues, the lawsuit said. When she was assigned a new "asset," it turned out to be an American citizen, a category considered "a much lower priority" and given less importance by CIA management than foreign nationals, the complaint said. Her performance review for 1993 was unfavorable and referred to the kissing episode as a "possible security incident," the lawsuit said. Tilden was later transferred to an unidentified domestic location after marrying a foreign national. She was eventually dismissed from the "NOC" program, but is still employed by the CIA, the complaint said. She is seeking unspecified damages and is demanding a trial by jury. "The CIA does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, disability or any other basis," the CIA spokesman said. -- Dan S DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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