Employees say Forest Service is slow on sexual harassment reforms

A group of Forest Service employees is claiming that the Agriculture Department has failed to comply with settlement terms in an eight-year-old sexual harassment class action lawsuit.

Lawyers for the group filed a motion for contempt June 4 against the Agriculture Department, accusing agency officials of not implementing reforms to purge the agency of sexual harassment and other discriminatory behavior. The changes were part of the settlement terms in the case, which was resolved in 2001.

"The intent was to change the culture, so people would not be harassed and would be treated with dignity and have access to equal opportunities," said Lesa Donnelly, the former Forest Service employee whose accusations of sexual harassment ignited the 1995 class action lawsuit, which covered approximately 6,000 women. "The culture is one where it is acceptable to harass, bully and intimidate, and that's acceptable because there is no accountability. The agency does not hold people accountable."

Under the 2001 settlement, Agriculture agreed to require the Forest Service in California to put in place special civil rights enforcement programs and personnel training and set up an Equal Employment Opportunity processing unit to investigate and resolve sexual harassment and hostile environment claims. It also required the agency to create a monitoring council that included a class member, an agency employee and a neutral third party.

The monitoring committee issued a report in March alleging that the department had yet to comply with some terms of the settlement, such as providing mediation to employees who file informal EEO complaints and changing employee performance measures to include accountability factors for discrimination and harassment. According to the report, obtained by GovExec.com, the agency's poor efforts reflected "a lack of strategic planning and direction from top management that could have resulted in more appropriate implementation and analysis of the programs."

"It's been a year and a half, the settlement agreement is almost over, and it's very clear that they haven't implemented it, and their failure to do so has caused a lot of suffering," Donnelly said. "It's either very blatant disregard or they've just resigned to look the other way."

A Forest Service spokesman said he was unable to discuss pending litigation, but admitted that the agency had not done all it could in regard to implementing the changes outlined in the settlement.

"We realize we need to do better," said Matt Mathes, spokesman for the Forest Service's California region. But Mathes denied claims that the agency turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and discrimination.

"When we do hear serious allegations about hostile work environment or other forms of sexual discrimination, we almost immediately launch a fair investigation, and if the allegations are true, we have taken and will continue to take, serious actions against the guilty," Mathes said.

A progress report dated May 9 indicated the agency had made some effort to meet the terms of the agreement.

The class action legal team is asking for an extension on the settlement period, as well as the installation of a special master who will have more authority to make sure the agency adheres to the term of the settlement. A judge is expected to rule on the motion on July 18.

Accusations of sexual harassment led 32 employees at the U.S. Mint in Denver to file an EEO complaint earlier this month, prompting agency Director Henrietta Holsman Fore to send a team of investigators to the facility on June 10.

"I take the type of behavior described in these allegations very seriously," Fore said on June 10. "The United States Mint has zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment, intimidation and other disruptive behavior in our workplace."

On Thursday, Fore sent a letter to the employees of the Denver facility vowing to install a permanent EEO manager and an ombudsman at the facility. Fore also promised additional training to help employees prevent harassment.

"I am committed to the Mint leading these efforts," Fore wrote. "All of us must accept our responsibility to treat one another fairly and with mutual respect and dignity."