AFSA NEWS 2023 Annual Report: Legal Defense Fund The AFSA Legal Defense Fund (LDF) supported one active-duty Foreign Service member and one retired member in 2023, for a total of $25,000. The first employee was contesting disciplinary action before the Foreign Service Grievance Board. While such cases normally would not meet the criteria for LDF support, the facts in this case were compelling. The department waited more than a decade to propose discipline against the employee, sustained a charge that Diplomatic Security had not sustained in its investigation, and imposed a penalty that was extremely harsh compared to penalties the department imposed against other employees who committed similar offenses. The second case involved a member who was called to testify before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations relating to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. As with the position AFSA took regarding members who were called to testify on the performance of their official duties in connection with the impeachment inquiry, the association does not believe members should have to pay out of pocket in such circumstances. Member dues are not used for the LDF. It is funded through donations and, occasionally, through attorney fees paid by the agencies when AFSA prevails in a case before the Foreign Service Grievance Board. In 2023, $11,575 was raised through donations from members and supporters. The fund ended calendar year 2023 with $371,705. The Legal Defense Fund was created in 2007. The fund provides financial assistance, typically to one or two members a year, whose cases present legal issues of far-reaching significance to the Foreign Service as a whole. Such cases often include issues of due process, fundamental fairness, or, as noted above, involve the employee’s performance of their official duties. The LDF enables members to retain private attorneys with expertise in a particular area of law, such as federal workers compensation law or litigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that AFSA attorneys do not have. In other cases, while AFSA staff possess the legal expertise to represent the member, they do not have the necessary time to represent the member due to the high number of cases and labor management issues they handle. For additional information about the LDF Fund, please visit afsa.org. n —Jay Carreiro, LDF Committee Chair AFSA Welcomes New Foreign Service Cohort AFSA hosted three welcome lunches for approximately 225 new State Foreign Service members on July 29 and Aug. 8. This group included 39 Rangel Fellows, seven Consular Fellows, six Pickering Fellows, and three Presidential Management Fellows. In a shift from recent trends in which the majority were specialists, 53 percent of the class are generalists and 47 percent specialists. The class is composed of 57 percent men and 43 percent women, with women representing more than half of the generalist cohort (52 percent) but only 34 percent of the specialist group. About half the class has prior affiliations with the State Department, while another quarter brings experience from other federal government roles. A significant portion of the class, 37 percent, has four to 10 years of experience, while 38 percent have 11 to 20 years. More than 60 percent hold master’s degrees, with the rest holding at least a bachelor’s degree. This linguistically rich class speaks nearly 50 languages, with a third fluent in two or more languages. Common languages include Spanish, French, Arabic, German, and Chinese, while others speak rarer languages such as Edo, Hausa, Mooré, and Twi. The professional backgrounds of the new members range from architects and attorneys to wedding planners and medical professionals. Among the group are individuals with unique experiences, such as discovering a Roman legion base, surviving a bear attack, and even performing as a backup singer for Aretha Franklin. AFSA wishes them all the best as they embark on their global journeys! n 56 OCTOBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL
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