D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed an executive order that aims to crack down on sexual harassment in District agencies.
The 24-page order explicitly bans sexual and romantic relationships between supervisors and employees in their chain of command. Bowser administration officials said Tuesday each agency will define what the chain of command looks like.
The updated policy also directs a Sexual Harassment Task Force to review current policies and procedures and make additional recommendations to help create a harassment-free environment.
At an unrelated event Tuesday afternoon, Bowser said the order is a step toward D.C.’s goal of having a sexual harassment-free workforce.
“We’re going to make the policies as clear as possible, so that people can be compliant,” Bowser said. “And at the end of the day, people have to do the right thing. And if they don’t, there will be consequences.”
Employees will also have to be trained on sexual harassment annually, the updated policy said, as opposed to every other year, which is the model that had been in place. The order bans supervisors from having a sexual relationship with any employee in their chain of command, “whether direct, indirect, operational or situational,” the order said.
The updated policy only applies to romantic relationships between supervisors and workers in their chain of command, and not to relationships broadly across D.C. government.
To comply with the order, D.C. government agency directors have to designate a person or committee to resolve issues surrounding workplace relationships by Nov. 17.
And by Dec. 8, existing relationships that fall within the categories of those prohibited by the executive order have to be disclosed to the appropriate person.
Anyone in a relationship banned by the updated policy can find a new position where the relationship isn’t impacted by the policy or change the reporting structure, the policy said.
The impact of the updated policy won’t be clear until disclosures start coming in, Bowser administration officials said.
The executive order also directs the Office of the Inspector General to asses a sexual harassment allegation for credibility, officials said. Previously, the accusation went to the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel.
The order doesn’t apply to the D.C. Council, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions or D.C. courts.
The updated order comes months after John Falcicchio, the former deputy mayor for planning and economic development and a top Bowser confidant, abruptly resigned.
The mayor’s office later launched two investigations into sexual harassment claims, which substantiated many of the claims against him. Later, a Washington Post report revealed more details from one of the women who accused Falcicchio of harassment.
“We applaud the District of Columbia’s revisions to its sexual harassment policy,” said lawyers Debra S. Katz and Kayla Morin in a statement. They represent two employees who said Falcicchio sexually harassed them.
Katz and Morin said the order was a “direct result of the tremendous bravery and persistence of our clients, who came forward to report sexual harassment by former Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio.”
The executive order overhauls the 2017 sexual harassment policy, which says, “sexual or romantic relationships between employees and supervisors in the employee’s chain of command are strongly discouraged.”
The order defines 14 things that can contribute to or constitute sexual harassment, such as sex acts, sexually offensive comments or off-color jokes, sexting, and making inquiries about someone’s sex life, among others.
In an interview, Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau said the updated policy seems like a positive step. Nadeau was among the lawmakers calling for an independent investigation into accusations against Falcicchio earlier this year.
“The idea that we haven’t had a definition, or rules around other consensual relationships, or relationships within the chain of command, obviously has led to issues within our government,” Nadeau said. “And this would resolve that. On the whole, it seems like a lot of good changes here.”
