Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22 at the Avalon Homes assisted living facility in McLean. She was 87.
She had Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter Jacqueline D. Griffiths said.
Mrs. Griffiths had worked in private practice, as a college instructor and at federal agencies before becoming a member of the Civil Service Commission’s Appeals Review Board in 1968. The appeals board was the highest authority to which federal employees could make claims of discrimination and other workplace grievances.
In 1974, Mrs. Griffiths — an African American woman — had her own grievance with the board when she was passed over for promotion to deputy chairman of the appeals board. A white man was given the job and later became chairman.
Mrs. Griffiths filed a federal lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in employment on the grounds of gender or race.
Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22. (Family Photo)
“How can the administration of an equal employment opportunity program be entrusted to people who themselves have been found to practice racial and sex discrimination with regard to their own employees?” Roderic Boggs, Mrs. Griffiths’s attorney, told The Washington Post in 1976.
The Civil Service Commission’s director of equal employment opportunity ruled in 1976 that his own agency had discriminated against Mrs. Griffiths. In 1977, a federal judge ruled in her favor, awarding her an increase in pay grade and restoring lost earnings. The decision also prohibited any federal official from harassing or retaliating against Mrs. Griffiths.
As part of a related out-of-court settlement, the chairman of the appeals review board retired and Mrs. Griffiths was named chairman in his place — the first African American woman to hold the job.
Her attorney, Boggs, who was director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights at the time, told The Post in 1977 that Mrs. Griffiths’s suit was “the most significant Title VII case we have been involved with.”
She had Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter Jacqueline D. Griffiths said.
Mrs. Griffiths had worked in private practice, as a college instructor and at federal agencies before becoming a member of the Civil Service Commission’s Appeals Review Board in 1968. The appeals board was the highest authority to which federal employees could make claims of discrimination and other workplace grievances.
In 1974, Mrs. Griffiths — an African American woman — had her own grievance with the board when she was passed over for promotion to deputy chairman of the appeals board. A white man was given the job and later became chairman.
Mrs. Griffiths filed a federal lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in employment on the grounds of gender or race.
Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22. (Family Photo)
“How can the administration of an equal employment opportunity program be entrusted to people who themselves have been found to practice racial and sex discrimination with regard to their own employees?” Roderic Boggs, Mrs. Griffiths’s attorney, told The Washington Post in 1976.
The Civil Service Commission’s director of equal employment opportunity ruled in 1976 that his own agency had discriminated against Mrs. Griffiths. In 1977, a federal judge ruled in her favor, awarding her an increase in pay grade and restoring lost earnings. The decision also prohibited any federal official from harassing or retaliating against Mrs. Griffiths.
As part of a related out-of-court settlement, the chairman of the appeals review board retired and Mrs. Griffiths was named chairman in his place — the first African American woman to hold the job.
Her attorney, Boggs, who was director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights at the time, told The Post in 1977 that Mrs. Griffiths’s suit was “the most significant Title VII case we have been involved with.”
Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22 at the Avalon Homes assisted living facility in McLean. She was 87.
She had Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter Jacqueline D. Griffiths said.
Mrs. Griffiths had worked in private practice, as a college instructor and at federal agencies before becoming a member of the Civil Service Commission’s Appeals Review Board in 1968. The appeals board was the highest authority to which federal employees could make claims of discrimination and other workplace grievances.
In 1974, Mrs. Griffiths — an African American woman — had her own grievance with the board when she was passed over for promotion to deputy chairman of the appeals board. A white man was given the job and later became chairman.
Mrs. Griffiths filed a federal lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in employment on the grounds of gender or race.
Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22. (Family Photo)
“How can the administration of an equal employment opportunity program be entrusted to people who themselves have been found to practice racial and sex discrimination with regard to their own employees?” Roderic Boggs, Mrs. Griffiths’s attorney, told The Washington Post in 1976.
The Civil Service Commission’s director of equal employment opportunity ruled in 1976 that his own agency had discriminated against Mrs. Griffiths. In 1977, a federal judge ruled in her favor, awarding her an increase in pay grade and restoring lost earnings. The decision also prohibited any federal official from harassing or retaliating against Mrs. Griffiths.
As part of a related out-of-court settlement, the chairman of the appeals review board retired and Mrs. Griffiths was named chairman in his place — the first African American woman to hold the job.
Her attorney, Boggs, who was director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights at the time, told The Post in 1977 that Mrs. Griffiths’s suit was “the most significant Title VII case we have been involved with.”
She had Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter Jacqueline D. Griffiths said.
Mrs. Griffiths had worked in private practice, as a college instructor and at federal agencies before becoming a member of the Civil Service Commission’s Appeals Review Board in 1968. The appeals board was the highest authority to which federal employees could make claims of discrimination and other workplace grievances.
In 1974, Mrs. Griffiths — an African American woman — had her own grievance with the board when she was passed over for promotion to deputy chairman of the appeals board. A white man was given the job and later became chairman.
Mrs. Griffiths filed a federal lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in employment on the grounds of gender or race.
Peggy S. Griffiths, a lawyer who won a federal discrimination lawsuit in the 1970s against her employer, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and who later chaired the commission’s Appeals Review Board, died July 22. (Family Photo)
“How can the administration of an equal employment opportunity program be entrusted to people who themselves have been found to practice racial and sex discrimination with regard to their own employees?” Roderic Boggs, Mrs. Griffiths’s attorney, told The Washington Post in 1976.
The Civil Service Commission’s director of equal employment opportunity ruled in 1976 that his own agency had discriminated against Mrs. Griffiths. In 1977, a federal judge ruled in her favor, awarding her an increase in pay grade and restoring lost earnings. The decision also prohibited any federal official from harassing or retaliating against Mrs. Griffiths.
As part of a related out-of-court settlement, the chairman of the appeals review board retired and Mrs. Griffiths was named chairman in his place — the first African American woman to hold the job.
Her attorney, Boggs, who was director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights at the time, told The Post in 1977 that Mrs. Griffiths’s suit was “the most significant Title VII case we have been involved with.”
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