Deals and People July 7, 2003

IRS Chief Counsel Williams Steps Down

July 7, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Effective July 31, 2003, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief Counsel B. John Williams will step down from his post to return to private practice.
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Announced July 1, 2003 via an internal e-mail by Treasury General Counsel David Aufhauser , Williams decided that the time was right to return to the private sector. The move comes just two years after President George Bush nominated Williams to the position, according to Washington-based legal publisher BNA.

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IRS Deputy Chief Counsel for Operations Emily Parker will serve as acting chief counsel upon Williams’s departure.

Despite the relatively short tenure in the position, Williams was praised highly for his contributions by a plethora of Treasury officials. In the internal e-mail, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy Pam Olson said that Williams “brought tenacity and the courage of his convictions to the job. The Treasury could not have found another lawyer with his willingness to tackle difficult issues and recalcitrant taxpayers/promoters. In short, he was just what the tax system needed.”

Further, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson expressed his gratitude to Williams in a prepared statement, saying he has been a “dedicated servant of the people and a fierce advocate for the integrity of our tax administration system.” Likewise, Treasury Secretary John Snow lauded Williams’s accomplishments, saying he did an “excellent job” and that taxpayers “were extremely well served” during his tenure.

Looking Back

President Bush announced July 3, 2001, his intention to nominate Williams as IRS chief counsel. He was confirmed by the US Senate in January 2002 and focused his administration on two key issues:

  • impeding the spread of abusive tax avoidance transactions
  • increasing published guidance issued by IRS.

At the time, Williams was a partner with Shearman and Sterling, Washington, DC, responsible for the firm’s tax litigation practice. He served as a US Tax Court judge from 1985 to 1990, was a partner with Morgan, Lewis and Bockius from 1990 to 2000, and also served as chairman of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation’s tax shelter task force. Williams in the 1980s served in the Justice Department’s Tax Division as an assistant attorney general and as a special assistant to the IRS chief counsel.

Compliance July 6, 2003

Sexual Harassment Claim Thrown Out

June 19, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A former employee of a suburban Philadelphia company who received a fake note about erectile dysfunction may have been abused by coworkers, but the maltreatment wasn't bad enough for a sexual harassment lawsuit, a federal judge ruled.
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According to a Legal Intelligencer report, sexually explicit materials given to plaintiff Thomas Keown by co-workers, were not enough to make out a hostile work environment claim because they “did not place Mr Keown into a sexually threatening or humiliating position,” US District Judge Berle Schiller wrote.

Keown’s lawyer, Harold Goodman, argued that a pamphlet and Post-It note about erectile dysfunction were particularly offensive to Keown because he had a penile implant.

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Schiller disagreed, saying, “There is no reason it should have interfered with his work performance or had a significant impact on his psychological well-being.”

Schiller also found that the pamphlets “were sent too infrequently – eight or nine pamphlets over a four-month period – to constitute harassment.”

At the same time, Schiller, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, ruled that the 50-something Keown could move forward with claims he was discriminated against because of his age, as well as charges that he was fired after complaining about the co-worker abuse.

Background

According to court papers, Keown worked in the Norristown, Pennsylvania office of Richfood Holdings, where he was in charge of transportation and oversaw management information systems.

Beginning in October 1998, Keown said he found pamphlets containing sexual content in his work mailbox. One pamphlet was titled “Testosterone Levels: the Key to Great Sex for Men Over Fifty,” and discussed the possible benefits of the hormone androstenedione for sexual potency.

Keown said he confronted Penny Mitchell, Richfood’s accounting vice president, who admitted sending the pamphlet.

Mitchell allegedly told Keown: “You’re an older man. You’ve got gray hair. I thought they would be of interest to you.”

Between October 1998 and January 1999, Keown claimed he received up to 10 more sexually suggestive pamphlets.

All of the pamphlets were small booklets of about eight to 10 pages, he said, and some were more sexually explicit than others.

Age Discrimination

But the harassment was also age-based, Keown claimed, citing a December 1998 telephone conversation in which his direct supervisor, Charlotte Edwards, remarked: “Tom Keown, you’re getting senile on me” and slammed down the telephone.

In the final alleged incident of sexual harassment, Keown claimed he received a pamphlet that discussed erectile dysfunction in older men. Attached to the cover of the pamphlet was a Post-It note signed in the name of Keown’s wife.

Mitchell has admitted sending both the pamphlet and the note.

Meeting

Keown claimed he was called to a meeting with the company’s chief operating officer and the head of human resources, that he believed was to discuss his complaints against Mitchell.

Instead, Keown claimed that his complaint was only touched on at the meeting, and he was denounced for his use of profanity at work and his performance and work ethics were criticized, despite consistently received high performance reviews and pay increases.

Keown also claims his boss recommended that he resign and that he did so several weeks later.

The case is Keown v. Richfood Holdings.

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