
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990                   TAG: 9007220214
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

JUDGE BLASTS ABC'S `JUNIOR G-MEN' IN RULING

A federal judge who ruled against a state Alcoholic Beverage Control agent in a sex discrimination lawsuit criticized other ABC officials for acting like "junior G-men."

U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar said Friday that the suit by Lois N. Staples, an investigator in the ABC's Hampton office, raised several troubling issues.

Staples was fired primarily for making a traffic stop in an unmarked police car without a siren, not filling out reports in a timely manner and for pouring out beer that should have been dumped only by court order, according to testimony.

One of Staples' complaints was that she was not issued a short-barreled shotgun and body armor as other agents were. She also said she was instructed to work undercover with the Norfolk police to arrest men soliciting prostitutes.

Doumar said he could not understand why ABC investigators should be making traffic stops, working undercover to stop prostitution and given short-barreled shotguns.

Doumar said he sympathized with Staples and her "abusive working environment." But he added, "I don't find any discrimination here, but I find that this idea of entering the new shock troops should best be left to the Green Berets. And the ABC board is not the Green Berets."

by CNB