Through records requests to those agencies and information provided by Bowser’s office, The Post compiled an additional 10 sexual harassment settlements since 2018, eight of which resulted in roughly $1 million in payments to the alleged victims; two settlements did not require District funds. A portion of the cases predate Bowser’s order, as some took years to reach a conclusion.from the D.C.
“I’m confident that not every agency was collecting the allegations of sexual harassment, and even if they were, I don’t think they were giving it to anyone,” White said. “The unknowable cost is the number of talented people, overwhelmingly women, who left, or may not want to work in a government that is not properly handling sexual harassment allegations.
DCPS similarly appeared to struggle to decide whether certain conduct met the “severe and pervasive” standard. The agency accounted for roughly a quarter of all complaints in the MOLC Other times investigators got hung up on whether an alleged harasser got “mixed signals.” A complaint against an employee who repeatedly asked a colleague out on dates even after she said she was not interested, then suggested sex instead, was also found “inconclusive.” The reason: “findings could not substantiate whether accused knew the behavior was unwanted or unwelcome” — yet remedial action was suggested considering the accused harasser continued even after the victim specifically said no.
“It makes employees less likely to complain, especially if there’s situations where there’s been openly inappropriate sexual conduct,” she said. Bowser’s office did not confirm any other forthcoming changes to the policy, but a new policy for consensual relationships could be included. Bowser’s 2017 order required the human resources department to develop reporting requirements for relationships within a chain of command — but the department never did thatDiscipline is not frequently recorded insaid made it difficult to assess how harassers or managers were being held accountable under the order.