Due to an erosion of trust in the FBI's disciplinary system, Director Robert Mueller has ordered an independent review of the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility.

Among the chief complaints are claims of retaliation against whistleblowers--and that agents are sanctioned more severely than managers.

A report by the Justice Department's inspector general last fall said the FBI "suffers from a strong, and not unreasonable, perception among employees that a double standard exists within the FBI." That view grew in part from the existence of a separate disciplinary system for managers until August 2000.

The inspector general cited several "troubling cases" in which discipline for managers appeared "unduly lenient." These included the handling of the confrontation at Ruby Ridge and falsified expense accounts submitted by several FBI managers who traveled to Washington to attend a retirement party for one of their colleagues.

Another inspector general's report early this year found that the current head of the OPR [Office of Professional Responsibility], Robert Jordan, exercised poor judgment in denying a promotion to FBI agent John Roberts after Roberts told the CBS program "60 Minutes" that managers and line employees weren't disciplined equally.

The review will be conducted by Attorney General Griffin Bell and former FBI Associate Director Lee Colwell. They will examine the practices of the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility. The review is expected to take three to six months.