January 19, 1951
Cong. Jere Cooper telephoned the Secretary this afternoon to inquire about the job status of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Mildred R. Somers, who is employed in the Division of Political Studies in the Department. Cong. Cooper said he had been in touch with Mr. Webb several weeks ago about his desire to get Mrs. Somers a P-4 rating, but so far he had received no word about the likelihood of a promotion for her.
The Cong. then reviewed Mrs. Somers' case, stating that Mr. Peurifoy, when he was in the Department, had told him that since Mrs. Somers was only recently converted to Civil Service status, she would have to serve until October (of last year) before she could get a promotion. Since the time requirement had been met, he wondered if something could not be done now.
Mr. Acheson pointed out to the Cong. that he knew about this matter but that the difficulty was that to give Mrs. Somers a P-4 rating would mean a double promotion, which could not appropriately be effected. The Secretary said that if Mrs. Somers would be willing to transfer to another division, the matter might be worked out, but it appeared that she did not wish to do so. The Secretary said he would work on this and when he had a full report, he would personally telephone the Cong.
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