A group of women filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia alleging gender discrimination in the FBI training academy.

The complaint contends that the FBI’s employment and evaluation techniques violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The entire training process is highly subjective and subversive of the purpose of a training academy. Instead of training [New Agent Trainees] and [New Intelligence Analyst Trainees] for their jobs, the FBI Academy’s purpose has been perverted into one of eliminating trainees who do not fit an arbitrarily subjective mold the FBI’s Training Division believes necessary for a Special Agent or Intelligence Analyst, in direct contract to stated FBI hiring policies and guidance.

The plaintiffs allege that the FBI’s use of Suitability Notations to denote deficiencies in six suitability dimensions (Conscientiousness; Cooperativeness; Emotional Maturity; Initiative; Integrity; and Judgment) is often arbitrary and unevenly applied.

[C]ertain trainee errors and deficiencies result in the issuance of a mandatory suitability notation, including errors such as pointing a weapon at a fellow agent. However, in practice, these mandatory citations are only mandatory when citing female trainees. Identical errors made by male trainees are regularly ignored and undocumented.

Additionally, the lawsuit argues that female trainees are subjected to sexual harassment and an inadequate internal Equal Employment Office.

The plaintiffs request relief including reinstatement, back pay, emotional distress damages, and requiring the FBI to conduct equal employment sensitivity training.