The findings emerged when the mayor’s office of legal counsel released summary reports, one on a Saturday night in June, and another at the end of July. However, there has still not been a full public accounting of how Mr. Falcicchio was allegedly able to harass junior staff on the economic development team at least as far back as 2020. Both women alleged they experienced retaliation, though it was largely outside the scope of the legal counsel’s investigation to fully assess that. We called for an independent investigation to remedy that, and the D.C. Council unanimously approved one. The results are expected later this year.
Ms. Bowser has unfinished business of her own. In June, Ms. Bowser said she was “completely devastated.” She promised an “after-action report” that would take a hard look at what city policies and practices needed updating. It’s now October and we’re still waiting for the report — and concrete changes.
To be sure, the mayor instituted a strong anti-harassment policy in 2017, in an executive order responding to the #MeToo revelations. A recent analysis by The Post shows 290 city workers had filed reports as of June 2023, of which about 30 percent were substantiated in full or in part. The policy is far from perfect, though, as the Falcicchio case showed. The most basic shortcoming is that employees do not always know where to report harassment. Every part of D.C. government is supposed to have a designated sexual harassment officer, but one of Mr. Falcicchio’s accusers told The Post that her department did not. The city updated its list of sexual harassment officers in July. Ms. Bowser should commit to ensuring that it’s updated at least quarterly. Even more important, Ms. Bowser should support council member Brianne K. Nadeau’s (D-Ward 1) bill for an independent investigation in cases where high-level mayoral appointees are accused of sexual harassment.
Ms. Bowser’s current policy says sexual harassment must be “severe or sufficiently pervasive” to constitute a violation. That definition is open to wide interpretation, as The Post’s analysis showed. And it clashes with a recently adopted D.C. Human Rights law that explicitly states: “Conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute harassment and no specific number of incidents or specific level of egregiousness is required.” Ms. Bowser said this month that she doesn’t know why her own policy has not been updated to reflect that statute. Rectifying that should be a priority. The current policy also “strongly discourages” romantic or sexual relationships between supervisors and employees. Best practice is to require disclosure of these relationships so that the employee no longer reports to that supervisor.
The mayor’s office says she will make an announcement “soon.” To restore public confidence, she has to do more than just update the wording of her existing policy. She must ensure training is happening across government, that the data is tracked and there’s enough funding for swift investigations. Most of all, she must forcefully reiterate that the entire D.C. government — from her top staff to interns — does not tolerate workplace harassment.
In response to The Post’s reporting, Ms. Bowser recently said, “I still don’t think we have a pervasive problem.” She based that on the fact that 290 complaints over five years is relatively small compared with 34,000 total city employees. A fair point, but harassment, to those who experience it, often feels severe and pervasive. The only acceptable number of confirmed cases is zero. The two women who came forward — and all city employees — deserve urgent action from the mayor.
