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Return to Article: Halting Harassment

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  I've prevailed many times myself and nothing has changed in my agency. In fact, management encourages employees to treat people who file complaints as "troublemakers". I agree, the government cannot and should not be overseeing itself, and also until managers have to pay for their own legal defense and pay the penalties out of their own pockets, Agencies will continue to bleed the taxpayers to defend their incompetent and incapable managers ...talk about Iraq...take a look at legal fees and awards and back pays being paid out of our taxpayer dollars so managers as they are called- can stroke each other's egos.

  victim Posted October 3, 2007 4:21 PM
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  I've been fighting harassment (bullying, mobbing, reprisal) for over 17 years with OSHA. This is just my case. I have paid over 50,000 in attorney fees and have sacrificed my health and fiances to keep my job. The government is all talk and CYA. Nothing changes. The women in my office and other offices are told to "...deal with it..."; it's a man's agency. Nothing will help as long as the government oversees the government.

  Anonymous Posted August 1, 2007 2:53 PM
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  An employee, who has been subjected to any type of harassment, should keep a record of the incidents and notify their immediate supervisor, in writing. The employee needs to get as much evidence of the harassment as possible. This includes pictures, tape recordings, and witnesses' statements. All of this is necessary if the problem develops into an EEOC case.

  I was the victim of sexual harassment while employed as an Auditor by the GSA Office of Inspector General in New York during 1994 to 1997. I had begun working with this office in 1979 and expected to complete my career in that office. I never imagined that an office that expects its employees to conduct themselves in such an exemplary manner would ignore a woman's complaints about sexually explicit material in the workplace.

  This developed into an EEOC case and it took almost six years until it was completed. The employees, managers, and the agency denied all of the allegations. I appealed the Agency decision and the EEOC ruled in my favor twice, even after the Agency appealed the EEOC decision.

  The GSA attorneys spent a great deal of time trying to wiggle out this whole mess but to no avail. My evidence was overwhelming and with the help of an attorney, we prevailed.

  You may be wondering what happened to the three employees involved in my case. Two auditors, during the investigation, became GSA OIG investigators, which was a monetary promotion and only 20 years to be eligible for retirement. These were the two employees that the manger told me were hot-blooded and because of their heritage, needed a boost every day. The other employee was promoted while in the OIG and later took a position in another department in GSA. He couldn't stay out of trouble and has been accused of committing the crime of rape and assault of a woman last year and is awaiting trial. I left the GSA OIG and went to another department and took an early out from the Department of Homeland Security.

  My suggestion to any victim is to not be silent. Speak up and defend yourself. You are entitled to work in an environment that is free from any type of discrimination. The bad guys will eventually get what they deserve. It may take a while but it will come.

  Pat Waskiewicz Posted June 28, 2007 10:53 AM
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  The biggest concern is; does the Federal Agency really care? Or is it all window dressing. The Department of State recently handled a racially based harassment case by at first denying it ever happened, and then finally in settlement issued an apology letter with a promise to quit the harassment. This was after four official times that they were requested to cease the harassment. But then, the same office did it again. The Department of States' reaction was to deny, deny, deny. The Final Agency Decision, FAD, signed out by the Under Secretary, Ms Fore, denied that the action happened, proposed an outrageous and obvious lie, and then made the claim that they had 35 days after agreeing to stop harassment to actually cease.

  In the handling of the complaint, the Department assigned to handle the problem a friend of the office. That person who delayed any investigation until the witnesses left, and then failed to take any action. This was acknowledged by his superior. After this, the accused office paid that person $10,000 of taxpayer money as an award, presumably for his handling of the case and letting them off. Then the investigator retired, no longer being able to be contacted. Nice clean handling of the case after a payoff.

  Oh, the office that was conducting the racially based harassment? The Office of Civil Rights, the direct report to Secretary Rice, and charged with eliminating discrimination and harassment.

  Norbert (Bert) Tagge Posted June 27, 2007 11:01 PM
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  There is a growing problem of race baiting fueled by government's cowardice and failure to recognize that harrassment goes both ways. I have heard black employees call white supervisors bigots and claim they are being treated like "slaves" when asked to do simple tasks. This has led to a double performance standard in my agency and, I believe, in much of government. Articles such as this which fuel race-based fears will make the cultural climate in government even worse.

  Ron Elglish Posted June 27, 2007 1:53 PM