The Justice Department Is Revisiting Its Sexual Harassment Policies
Internal reports have documented numerous incidents of sexual misconduct involving senior-level officials.
Zoe Tillman
Reporting From
Washington, DC
Posted on July 30, 2021, at 12:48 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is launching a new effort to review and potentially revise its sexual harassment policies, according to a memo that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco sent to all employees on Friday.
Monaco’s memo doesn’t specify what policies might be changed or what prompted the latest review, but the DOJ inspector general’s office for years has investigated and confirmed complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct across the department, and recent news reports have detailed and confirmed these and other allegations. BuzzFeed News has previously reported on a slew of sexual harassment and misconduct complaints that were investigated and substantiated by the inspector general’s office, including a former federal prosecutor who harassed multiple women he came into contact with across various agencies; a former senior official accused of sexually assaulting a woman he worked with and harassing others; and a former US attorney (whose name DOJ unsuccessfully argued to keep secret after BuzzFeed News sued) accused of violating DOJ policies by having a relationship with a subordinate.
Monaco has tasked a steering committee to do a comprehensive review and report its recommendations to her within 180 days, according to a copy of the memo reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
“The Department of Justice is committed to providing a workplace free from sexual harassment and misconduct,” Monaco wrote. Citing an executive order that President Joe Biden signed in March highlighting the need to support “gender equity and equality” across the federal government, Monaco wrote, “It is therefore critical to our duty as principled defenders of the law to combat sexual harassment and misconduct in our own workplace and hold offenders accountable for their actions.”
The department’s Gender Equality Network, or DOJ GEN, has long pushed the department to strengthen its policies around preventing sexual harassment and tracking and responding to complaints. The group sent a letter to Monaco in February following the publication of an investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle into sexual harassment within the immigration court system, which is an arm of DOJ; the Chronicle first reported Monaco’s memo.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/justice-department-revisiting-sexual-harassment-policies