A Digression from Aaron Charney: An Update on Shanetta Cutlar
We’ll get back to Aaron Charney and Sullivan & Cromwell in a minute. Here’s a quick update on our coverage of Shanetta Cutlar, the embattled fantabulous chief of the Justice Department’s Special Litigation Section.
After our last post, we received some interesting tips:
“When SYC brought her sons into work, one walked around the floor, popping into attorneys’ offices. He would say: ‘My mom tells you what to do. My mom can fire you.’ He was about six. Now, one has to think, where does a six-year-old get something like that?”“Another time when SYC brought her sons in, a beloved security guard was making small talk with the boys. She turned to him and said, in a condescending tone: ‘Do you think they don’t have a Daddy? They already have a father. There is no need for you to speak to them.’”
“At [a recent] staff meeting, SYC gave orders for her troops to drum up Access to Reproductive Health Clinics and Places of Religious Worship, and Religious Exercise of Institutionalized Persons (FACE & RUPLA) cases. Apparently the Section has an underwhelming amount…. Pretty thin for statutes touted as part of the section’s mandate.”
“SYC and her loyal Principal Deputy positioned their offices so each exit from the building would be covered. A favorite pastime is to monitor the comings and goings of the staff. If anyone tries to slip out early or take a long lunch, they are called on the carpet and asked for a leave slip. Who says there’s waste in government? We pay an SES [Senior Executive Service — a highly paid federal govt. official] to watch out the window!!”
“Apparently your coverage of SYC is the talk of DOJ managers, even those in other Divisions. Front office insiders expressed “concern” over the coverage at a recent lunch. They were appalled at the behavior and the fact that it’s public.”
That last item is especially interesting — but it makes us nervous. Please, front office people: Keep your hands off our Shanetta!
In addition to the foregoing comments, we received the exit questionnaire of another former SPL employee — one who hasn’t been in touch with us before.
It contains some good stuff. We’ll be posting excerpts in the near future.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of the Special Litigation Section under Shanetta Cutlar
(61) Comments
Comments
Someone please fire that beotch!!!!
People who work for the government deserve such treatment.
There go my lateral prospects
There need to be more outings of megalomaniacal supervisors. SYC is awesome, but she can't be the only one. We don't need one of the few powerful black women lawyers to get taken down for being a heinous hellbeast when she is so not alone.
Who are the cruelest federal judges? I know they're out there. Former clerks?
Shanetta, Shanetta, Shanetta.
If you were truly a diva your boys would not be walking around telling the staff:
"My mom tells you what to do. My mom can fire you."
If you were a REAL diva, your children would think THEY could fire your staff and tell them what to do. What are you THINKING Shanetta! Now c'mon, get with the program. The sooner you have your boys telling your staff to get them snacks, then I'll respect you for the Diva that David thinks you are!
To my knowledge, SPL has not had any FACE or RLUPA cases since Shanetta took over. I figured she was trying to keep her Bush Administration patrons happy. But now she also has to answer to a Democratic Congress. Maybe that's why House Judiciary is investigating.
anon 4:36 p.m.- Vanessa Gilmore.
I imagine the political appointees are in a tough spot now. They surely don't want to reassign someone because of stories on a gossip blog. On the other hand, much of this has been common knowledge at DOJ for years. Any other Administration would have discovered the problem long ago and quietly corrected the situation. Can this regime continue to be oblivious now that it is (mostly) public???
good work! sounds like you're actually doing a fair bit of good with this coverage.
She's GooglePWN3D now. Five of the top ten links under her name point to your stories.
Today's lesson: Perma-PMS may pass, but the internets are forever.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=shanetta+cutlar&spell=1
OK, now I've stopped believing this stuff. As a former veteran DOJ attorney, I've seen people in the office, sometimes supervisors, who are overbearing and even disliked. But these people become totally different when they bring in their kids - I find it truly hard to believe that anyone's boys would've (a) said something like that, and (b) not been reprimanded by their mother immediately. Likewise with the comment about "they already have a father" - I don't care how much of a b**ch you say she is, I can't believe something so cruel would come out of a mother's mouth in front of her children.
One more thing - tip #3 above has (IMO) probably bought an OPR investigation for whomever leaked a directive about litigative priorities of a DOJ component.
By the way, I didn't work in CRT and never heard of Shanetta until your posts started. I even sympathize with her underlings for the treatment they say they've endured. But I don't believe the stuff about her kids.
I still believe it all. I've seen kids - usually of private sector lawyers, not government lawyers - who are much more poorly behaved.
Also, re: tip #1, I wouldn't expect a reprimand from SYC b/c it doesn't sound like she was present for these "my mom can fire you" comments. It sounds like she was just allowing her sons to wander around the office, while she did work (or what passes for work for her, like monitoring her employees' departures like a hawk).
If Shanetta's reputation in the legal community is shattered because of the allegations made on this silly gossip website, then all other DOJ managers should be subjected to the same ridicule and scrutiny for their inappropriate conduct toward staff.
The comments made on this website are all [allegations], which are unfounded and unsubstantiated. Until these allegations are proven to be true, Chief Cutlar will have the last laugh.
I urge everyone to look at the public records of complaints filed against other managers at DOJ. Some of the allegations in those complaints make Mrs. Cutlar look like a saint.
Mrs. Cutlar did not write the book entitled, "How to Be a Rigid Boss," she simply read the book and followed direction.
"Not so Fast": I understand your skepticism and would think the same thing if I hadn't witnessed some of this behavior myself. I did not see the incident with the security guard, but I have seen the kids tell SPL lawyers that their mom is the boss and can fire them. I've also seen the kids yell "get back to work" when they see SPL lawyers outside the office (lawyers get a half an hour for lunch so these people aren't loafing on the taxpayers' dime). Shanetta has been present in each instance and thinks it's funny.
1:44 - While I don't excuse such insolence from children, let's leave her children out of the fray. Enough [alleged]derogatory information has surfaced about Mrs. Cutlar, no need to defame the characters of babies.
2:46: Good point. Fair enough.
No one is defaming the characters of babies, but rather pointing out that their mother is creating monsters.
1:38 - To the contrary, she is creating confident, smart and assertive young men who will not be afraid to speak their minds (perception is reality). I guess if they become monsters as you put it, they will simply have to join all the other monsters in this cruel and sadistic world like you all.
Life,
Oh please. What is "confident, smart and assertive" about telling people "my mom can fire you" and "my mom tells you what to do"? Sounds more like an inferiority complex to me. Yelling at people who just happen to be out in the hallways for any variety of reasons, telling them "get back to work!" even if they may be working? More inferiority complexes. I can only hope these children don't get into places with good academic reputations so they can never get into a position of power like Ms. Cutlar. Oh course, given their skin color, I'm sure they'll be able to benefit from racial quotas at the Harvards of the world, never mind how "underprivileged" they actually are.
Oh, and by the way, a 1/2 hour for lunch is ridiculous! That's barely enough time to get out of the office, go through the cafeteria line and get something to eat! What if you want to run an errand too? I routinely take an hour for lunch and stay that much longer into the afternoon. Seems like Shanetta is the type who has a problem with you taking an hour long lunch, but gives you NO CREDIT WHATSOEVER for staying well into the evening or longer? Doesn't seem to matter if you're willing to put in a 12-hour or longer day; a minute over 30 minutes lunch is a no-no. Shame on this power-tripping "diva"!
Life,
Are you Shanetta's husband, by chance (now that's someone I'd like to meet)? A fellow member of her church? Or are you a young and attractive person who Shanetta fools around with on the side, and you give her oral pleasure in the office? I gotta know.
Look, Life, she's spoiling her babies rotten and you know it. Teaching your children that they are "better" than other people is a sign of classlessness.
2:17 - Certainly you must know that your overtone gives "bigotry" a new meaning. I can only hope that your children, if you're capable of procreating, do not obtain authoritative positons in good academic places, in which they assuredly will exploit the intelligence and hardwork of African-Americans, then take the credit for themselves.
Your assumptions that I may be Shanetta's husband or some young attractive youngster pleasuring the Chief are incorrect. However, if seeking oral pleasure at work is what you do, no wonder the Chief has to keep you all line. Go jump off a bridge and stop whining.
As a taxpayer, I'm happy that the DOJ has strict bosses like Shanetta. Someone needs to keep self-entitled junior bureaucrats in line and make them realize that "long lunches" are not OK. Not on my dime. Also, anyone who works in the real world should know to greet their boss in the hallways. If you have to be taught basic workplace survival skills, it might as well happen early in your career.
Hey captain obvious, do you mind your tax dollars going to support the tremendous cost of the massive exodus of trained staff, due to this woman's behavior?
Depends how many have left and how good they were.
almost a 75% turn over since she took over. The last batch didn't last six months. Come on, how much work is she getting done looking out the windows? And, I'm sure Life is her loyal deputy.
She should stop hiring top school grads and start hiring tier 2 grads who appreciate the opportunity.
As bad as she sounds, it's better than getting your resume auto-rejected because you went to the wrong school.
As a professional, if my bosses children yelled at me to get to work, my respect for my boss would plummet and I would have the classifieds out immediately. Let him get the work done rather than shepparding his children around to degrade me. It’s rude & unprofessional. This Shanetta should be disciplined. Does she think her government staff are hers to abuse?
What makes this [alleged] behavior on SYC's so fundamentally insane is ... THIS IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHE'S WORKING FOR.
It's not like it comes out of her pocket if people take their accrued vacation time.
If she didn't drive people away, and had a loyal staff, she wouldn't have such anxiety over vacation/sick days/lunch hours.
Top school grads who feel tortured by SYC - welcome to the stuff us tier 2 grads have to go through in the toilet firms we wind up working at. At least you're working at the DOJ.
SYC - Stop hiring top school grads. Hire tier 2 grads who appreciate the opportunities you give your staff.
Yes, SC, is obviously not hiring the right people. She should hire lawyers who would appreciate the opportunity to serve, know that there is no free-lunch in life and that they have to work hard and meet the demands of supervisors. I suspect that some (not all, but definitely some) lawyers think that they will just get to DOJ, talk to other smart lawyers, bulk up their resumes and leave the office by 5:00 since this is the government and the pay is less, then leave after a short while wih DOJ on their resumes! I have applied and interviewed with Civil Rights multiple times (as have many other lawyers), have related experience, but still have not been hired (I know, us poor idiots - right?). SLC refugees please pass the baton to me on your way out the door and inform me what SC and the front office are looking for so that I can get hired. Please say something about the current hiring practices, i.e., who is being hired and what are they looking for in candidates? I am not kidding. I'd go to SL in a heartbeat to enforce civil rights in this country. (I know that you don't want to hear this since you are so busy trying to slay your boss/former boss, but I'd still like an opportunity to show you how to succeed in a tough job with a no nonsense boss). TIA.
P.S. for Loyola 2L - there is still time to transfer if you are not satisfied with your school. You can always transfer up and get a joint degree. I have seen it done. What school you go to definitely makes a difference. It always stays with you. Make sure that you can be proud of wherever you graduate law school.
Dude, understand, the bitch is crazy and no one can work for her. One deputy she just ran out used to SLEEP there and was spotted in his pajamas in the hallway. No one can do well under her unless she wants them to, the others are just entertainment. Get a grip. She is the exception to rule of how managers operate at DOJ. That is why you don't see this blog covered with other bad DOJ managers. She takes the cake.
6:16 - Such an incorrect assumption on your part - I am not Shanetta's loyal deputy. Loyal I am, but not her deputy. Certainly, you would like me to reveal my identity. Guess again!!
Hey Captain Obvious,
I'm a taxpayer too and while I have no problem with government employees taking 1-hour lunches, which I think is perfectly reasonable in ANY workplace and has been reasonable EVERYWHERE I've ever worked, I DO have a problem with a management-level person causing so much turnover in her department that it is costing a signficant amount of time and money to recruit, interview, hire and train new employees. Turnover everywhere costs our economy billions of dollars. If there's one way ANY employer, DOJ included, can cut costs, passing it on to taxpayers, customers and employees appropriately, its by reducing turnover. There is some turnover that can't be avoided. But the kind of turnover Ms. Cutlar herself is personally causing can be. Its adding to the costs of government and I have a far bigger problem with that than any government employee taking an hour long lunch (which as I said is not unreasonable - how the hell can you really have a 1/2 hour lunch?). In fact, its allowing people to take an hour for lunch that helps ATTRACT good attorneys to places like DOJ and PREVENTS (or at least reduces) turnover.
Okay Life, you are either SYC herself, or one of her brain washed prisoners who has abused wife syndrome.
No one at SPL takes 1 1/2 hour lunches on a regular basis, as does no one at DOJ. Maybe one a month when you are going to a good bye lunch, or shower or something like that. Usually its run down stairs, grab something, run back up stairs, wolf it down and get back to work. Rarely do people go some place to sit down and eat. Unless you bring your lunch, then you just eat at your desk while proof reading something or checking your email. DOJ attorneys are hard working, even the ones at SPL who are spinning their wheels.
SPL is not full of people from top law schools. Please do not think that DOJ is full of people from top law schools. Maybe the solicitor's office, but for the most part, its just regular folk from regular law schools. The super stars tend to move on to big careers elsewhere. 2L Loyola, someone has scared you into the fact that you won't be able to get a job because of your law school's standing. Well, let me tell you that I went to a tier 4 law school and I work at DOJ. Just be positive and hard working. If they see you can get the job done and you'll fit into the culture, you'll be hired. RELAX, the smell of desperation may be what is turning the hiring people off.
Life - if SYC was fair & tough -- that'd be one thing, but she is not. She PLOTS against her attorneys, she makes fun of her attorneys, she is out to get certain of her attorneys. How is that normal? She is not tough, she's crazy, the rules are ever changing to suit her mood. Come on, no office should run like that, particularly the federal government. Do you see anyone saying that the allegations on this blog are false? No because they are not. She has done all this an worse. You know that. She should do the public a service and step down.
2:15 - Let me be the first to say that most of the allegations made against Mrs. Cutlar on this website are "false." When I worked for SPL she was well respected by black and white persons. There may have been one or two attorneys that disliked her managerial style, but these people also had problems with other attorneys and the support staff. They were people with personality problems.
In regards to the allegation that she constantly yells at people - let me tell you that I have never witnessed this woman raise her voice in private much less berate an intern in the hallway. That's just not her style. She strongly believes in professionalism. Allow me to provide you with examples of her calm and caring deamenor.
One day I walked into the lunchroom and saw Mrs. Cutlar laughing and talking with a summer intern. The young male was being very talkative, but Mrs. Cutlar engaged him in conversation and never made him feel like she did not have time to speak with him. On another occasion, I witnessed her giving accolades in a staff meeting to several staff attorneys working on a big case in the office. Additionally, when the mother of one of her employees past away, she stongly urged her staff to give comfort to this person and emotionally expressed how badly she felt for this person. Lastly, she is a manager that greets you every morning with a smile saying good morning and giving you compliments.
Every boss has to be rigid sometimes, that she is, but not abusive.
For all the readers with the unfamiliarity with Mrs. Cutlar and SPL, do not believe everything that you've read on this website. It is my belief that Mr. Lat and others have spiced up the information to keep you visiting this website albeit at the expense of Mrs. Cutlar's reputation.
A wise man once said, "he who laughs last, laughs best." I pray Mrs. Cutlar will have the last laugh.
Geez, Life, you make "Mrs. Cutlar" sound like Smoove B of Onion fame.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/25868
Smoove B is the greatest writer of all time. I'll admit that "Life" has a similar style.
So Life,
The webpostings and anonymous emails to Lat are one thing but the incident report, exit interview and whistleblower complaint are completely "false" and made up? Also, the large turnover, something that couldn't possibly be made up, in the division is also "false"?
Life, whoever you are you should change your name to LIAR!
Everyone in SPL is a victim or have personally had the misfortune to witness this womans unstable behavior toward others.
You sound stupid trying to defend such a waste of human flesh.
Your false statements can't save your friend. She's going down & I hope you sink with her.
Life you should be hired as Shanetta's speech writer. The entire speech that you just made on Shanetta's behalf sounds as if you just got out of a Mental Ward. If you did a confidential talley of all the people, black or white in the Section that feel that Mrs. Cutlar should remain in the Section it would be no surprise that she would be voted out.
Over 65 employees have left the Section; Deputies, Managers, Attorneys (not all new or attorneys nor were they all hired by the Bush Administration), Paralegals, and Support Staff. The majority of the employees that have left the Section were the "Best of the Best". Only the strong survive. I remember one Deputy saying that she wasn't going to allow Mrs. Cutlar to run her out of the Section and when they took her out she would be the one to take the key and LOCK THE DOOR. Outwardly, she may have seemed fair to you but behind closed doors she is faithful to No One. Everyone knows that when she is laughing the hardest is when she is nervous and plotting against someone. Mrs. Cutlar tried to give one attorney a bad evaluation and was forced to change the evaluation plus give the attorney an award. What island were you on?
Life, do us all a favor and disappear before we all open a electronic can of "wup ass" on you!
Crawl back in that deep dark whole you crawled out of to defend that piece of S**t.
Ah, see Life didn't work for her very long . . . how long have you not worked at SPL? If you haven't been there in the last year and a half, you have no business talking. You can't say these things about her are not true BECAUSE they are. You know it. What about the consultants that came in because moral was so low? How come they never came back?
Ohhh, Life said "most of the allegations" are "false." Even her staunch defender can't deny everything because she has done these inappropriate things. Professionalism? Please, is it professional to plot against attorneys you don't like? Or dish about them to support staff? That evil laugh, come on, even you can't say with a straight face that all this stuf is not true. She is abusive, plain and simple.
11:21 - You are soooo articulate! Bring on the can of "wup ass!!!" Keep in mind, I am no public figure (libel), nor am I threatened by what appears to be your inability to express yourself (ignorance is a bliss).
11:29 - By virtue of the First Amendment, I can in fact state unequivocally that the allegations made against Mrs. Cutlar are 'FASLE' (unfounded and unsubstantiated).
THE ALLEGATIONS ARE ALL "FALSE."
THE ALLEGATIONS ARE ALL "FALSE."
THE ALLEGATIONS ARE ALL "FALSE."
THE ALLEGATIONS ARE ALL "FALSE."
THE ALLEGATIONS ARE ALL "FALSE."
Is this clear enough?
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
Is this clear enough?
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
Is this clear enough?
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
YOU ARE A LIAR!
Is this clear enough?
Life,
You are a mental case, which explains why you are defending that psycho. We will accept the fact, that the both of you are mentally unstable, however, your lies are unacceptable!
"Your" ignorance is bliss! Come out, come out whoever "you" are with a real name. Let's see you back up your conviction with a real name. Don't worry about us cowards, be a leader not a follower.
Our guess is that you won't, your biggest fear is being exposed to your colleagues who will know for a fact you are a butt kissing Shanetta fan who is no doubt a LIAR!
LIAR, LIAR, pants/skirt on fire!
Life - I was a victim of SYC, don't tell me that these allegations are false, they are fact. You know, she knows it, and hopefully someone in a position to neuter her knows it.
5:49 - The communication has become a bit infantile and petty. Have a good life!
What's the matter life? Too much heat in the kitchen for you? Oh, right, turn that into a racist remake too! Just take your marbles and go home.
Yes, that's what we thought! Don't forget to wear your "Life" jacket. You my dear are going down with your friend SYC.
10:33 & 10:37p.m. - Don't say goodbye so soon. You cowards are so funny - hide behind your aliases and claim that I can't take the heat. Where is this electronic can of "wup ass" that 11:21 promised me? I relish the thought of having my "ass wuped." BRING IT!!
Hey Lat: I would like to go sailing down the Riviera, sipping on a glass of margarita. Give me your best penmanship!
Life or should I say Liar,
Now, now, now.... your e-mail tone sounds ANGRY. Did my words of truth needle you?
Question (?)...
You stated in your last comment "You cowards are so funny - hide behind aiases".
What are you doing Life? Duh...hello, anybody home?
Ohh.. & that electronic can of "wup ass" stay tuned much more to come, in my time not yours. I think I have dished out more than you can handle. So much so, you signed off and told me to "have a good life". What happened? coudn't go down without having the last word huh?
Well, I am finished with you unless you can step out and give a real name.
Almost forgot, I know someone who loves margaritas, by the way you remind me of her.
P.S. David Lat deserves a metal of honor.
Oh... & please don't give your best penmanship, it's a WRAP!
5:44 - Life is wonderful - wake up and smell the roses. I know someone with major insecurities and he sounds just like you.
Bye for now, I'm making plans to go sailing down the Riviera, sipping on my glass of margarita.