THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270095
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Burdena Pasenelli and Joanne Pierce Misko were among a handful of women to enter the FBI in the early 1970s.
Pioneers in the traditionally white-male-dominated era of J. Edgar Hoover, they came on board when women trainees were still assigned nicknames like Bam-Bam and Thunder Thighs.
Misko was one of the first two women hired in 1972. By the end of 1973, only 24 of 8,767 special agents were women.
Today, Misko and Pasenelli are on opposite ends of the spectrum in their opinions about how women have fared as special agents in the past 22 years.
Pasenelli worked her way up the ladder, reaching the level of assistant director with only 12 other people at her level or above.
Misko, a former nun, struggled for recognition. Her attorney said she was passed over for promotion nearly a half-dozen times.
Pasenelli is now the assistant director in charge of the Finance Division, responsible for preparing the FBI's budget and testimony before Congress and handling the disbursement of $2.6 billion per year.
Misko retired in September because she saw no promotion opportunities. She filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the bureau repeatedly promoted less-qualified men.
``There's an old-boy network at the FBI,'' said Misko's New York City attorney, Leon Friedman. ``As new recruits come up for promotion, they run up against the old-boy network. That's what happened to her.''
Pasenelli, on the other hand, had a different experience.
``I feel my promotions have been related to the fact that I've successfully performed each of my assignments,'' she said in a telephone interview last week. ``Anyone will be rewarded who's willing to work very hard and give it their all, it doesn't matter if they're a woman or not.''
Both women worked for years as street agents before moving into supervisory roles.
Misko, now 53, was involved in gunplay at the Wounded Knee Indian Reservation in South Dakota and, by the late 1970s, was one of the first female supervisors at FBI headquarters in Washington. From 1981 to 1987, Misko applied for five supervisory jobs, but her applications were rejected. The suit asserts that Misko was working in a supervisory position without the appropriate title, responsibility or pay.
Misko's lawsuit seeks $25,000 in back pay, lost benefits and lawyer's fees.
Pasenelli spent 12 years as a street agent in California and Wisconsin. She spent three years as a recruiter before becoming a supervisor in San Diego. She became assistant special agent in the Houston office, then was promoted to special agent in charge in Anchorage, Alaska.
``I went to night school for seven years and got a degree in accounting,'' Pasenelli said. ``My goal was to do a better job putting people in jail for white-collar crime. Little did I know what that degree would get me.'' by CNB