Darnell GARCIA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John C. LAWN, D.E.A. Administrator, Defendant-Appellee

The district court denied the appellant’s claim for injunctive relief from allegedly unlawful retaliation by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) against the appellant for exercising his Title VII rights. He appeals. We must consider first an issue of mootness and then consider what may constitute irreparable harm in a Title VII injunction case against the United States.

In 1983 the appellant, Darnell Garcia, won a favorable Title VII decision from the Attorney General on his claims of discrimination by the DEA on the basis of national origin. The relief awarded included back pay, removal of adverse material from his records, and attorney’s fees.

In 1985 appellant filed this action in district court to require the government to comply with the Attorney General’s decision. Within two months after filing this suit, the DEA ordered him transferred from Los Angeles to Detroit. After negotiation efforts failed, he amended his complaint to request injunctive relief to forestall his transfer pending administrative review of the merits of his retaliation claim. He argued that the transfer, which would deprive him of his post of preference, was retaliation for his…