FBI to Pay $22M Settlement Over Claims of Sexual Discrimination at Training Academy

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agreed to pay over $22 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that female recruits at the bureau’s training academy were being singled out and harassed by instructors.

As ABC News reports, 34 different women who were dismissed from the academy in Quantico, Virginia claim that instructors would make insulting remarks about their appearance, accuse them of infidelity, and suggest that they needed to take contraception in order to “control their moods.”

If the payout is approved by a federal judge, then it would rank as among the biggest settlements in the FBI’s history.

“These problems are pervasive within the FBI and the attitudes that created them were learned at the academy,” said David J. Shaffer, a lawyer representing the women, in a statement. “This case will make important major changes in these attitudes.”

The lawsuit, first filed in 2019, alleged that women in particular faced a hostile environment at the academy, in which they were “excessively targeted for correction and dismissal in tactical situations for perceived lack of judgment,” as well as “suitability.” Many of these allegations were confirmed after an internal watchdog report was conducted in 2022.

In a statement released on Monday, the bureau said that it had “taken significant steps over the past five years to further ensure gender equity in the training and development of all our trainees.”

In addition to the financial settlement, other provisions would include an offer for all of the women to continue training to become agents, with those who pass being given “guaranteed placement” in one of their top three preferred field offices. The bureau also agreed to an outside review that will determine if female recruits have faced a fair evaluation process.

However, several of the women have already chosen to move on and seek other careers. One such plaintiff, Paula Bird, instead chose to become a lawyer. Although she described the experience as “disillusioning,” she was nevertheless  “pleased that this settlement will bring a measure of justice to the women who were unfairly dismissed.”

A similar settlement had been made just six months earlier against the Department of Justice (DOJ), which agreed to a $138.7 million payout with over 100 people who claimed that the FBI mishandled its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against the sports doctor Larry Nassar.