Breaking the Silence: Understanding and Addressing Government Workplace Harassment

Sexual harassment and discrimination happen in nearly every industry, but it may be particularly common in government agencies, though it often goes unreported. When the #MeToo movement cracked open the floodgates for sexual harassment and assault survivors to share their stories, some federal employees may have felt more understood and less alone, but it still didn’t do much to increase reporting statistics in the government sector. Today we’re sharing a few of the more impactful reported cases of government sexual misconduct, as well as discussing what can be done to encourage reporting and prevent these situations in the first place.

Why is it Hard to Report Misconduct in Government?

While it’s true across all industries, government employees may face some of the biggest challenges when reporting misconduct by their superiors or coworkers. First of all, those working for federal agencies lack one specific method to report sexual harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reported that a majority of federal agencies had ineffective anti-harassment programs between 2014 and 2016 due to poor implementation and communication.

In addition, private sector employees can take their case directly to the EEOC, but the EEOC only plays an advisory role for federal departments, because employees must first report within their own agency. When filing a public report, the reputation of a harassment survivor may also be shattered at their own and other agencies, with retaliation common in a government setting. Employees must also report their sexual harassment to their employer agency within 45 days, which is a very short time frame for many survivors to process what has happened and find the courage to move forward with a formal complaint.

How Common is Government Workplace Harassment?

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a lengthy report on harassment in government workplaces in 2020, and a follow-up study was conducted by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board in December 2022. The MSPB found that roughly 21% of women in the federal government had been victims of sexual harassment between 2014-2016.

The unwanted invasion of personal space was the most common form of harassment, along with unwelcome exposure to sexual conversations, and unwelcome jokes, teasing, questions, or comments of a sexual nature. Of the 21% of women who indicated they had been sexually harassed, 61% tried to avoid their harasser(s), 59% of victims confronted their harasser(s) and asked them to stop, and just 11% of survivors filed a formal complaint.

Let’s look at a few cases of sexual harassment in the U.S. government, along with the consequences for the harassers — and their victims.

1. Bill Clinton, Former U.S. President

One of the most famous sexual harassment cases in history — let alone in the government — came to light in the late 90s involving our 42nd President Bill Clinton. Although most people associate this scandal with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, the harassment actually began with Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee.

In 1994, one year into Clinton’s first term in the White House, Jones sued Clinton for propositioning and exposing himself to her at the 1991 Annual Governor's Quality Conference. In the ensuing Jones investigation, Monica Lewinsky was named as a potential witness, leading Lewinsky to submit a sworn affidavit denying a sexual relationship with the president, and Clinton denied it as well in his deposition for the Jones lawsuit.

The media broke news of the scandal after Lewinsky’s former coworker shared taped confessions of their affair. Early on, Clinton uttered the infamous words: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky,” but physical DNA evidence and Lewinsky’s grand jury testimony in exchange for immunity eventually forced a confession from the president.

Clinton was then charged with perjury and was impeached for his false testimony, but was acquitted and remained in office through the end of his second term. Clinton settled in the Jones lawsuit and had his license to practice Arkansas law suspended for five years. Lewinsky has publicly stated that she is still affected by this incident today in her self-esteem and trust issues when it comes to men.

2. Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice

Another big sexual harassment case in the ‘90s was Anita Hill’s accusations of Clarence Thomas during the Senate hearings on his confirmation to the Supreme Court. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas to be the next Associate Supreme Court Justice, with his initial hearings going smoothly. However, a private interview with Hill from the FBI was leaked to the media, and the hearings were reopened.

Hill, a former coworker of Thomas’ from the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accused him of sexual harassment that occurred 10 years earlier. Her accusations of Thomas included repeatedly asking her out socially, unwelcome sexual comments, and inappropriate language, including graphic references to his own sexual prowess. Hill passed a polygraph test in regard to her statements, and four other women were prepared to corroborate her testimony, but they were never called to the stand.

Thomas vehemently denied all allegations, and Hill’s credibility was called into question, including why she didn’t report the harassment sooner or why she followed Thomas to the EEOC. To this, she replied that working for the government within the field of civil rights had always been her ambition, though she went into higher education when Thomas’ overtures did not stop. Ultimately, Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court with a Senate vote of 52-48, the narrowest margin since the 1800s.

Since Hill’s claims were part of a Senate hearing and not an actual lawsuit, they were never officially proven or disproven. However, her widely-publicized testimony led to a number of changes in government and the country. Filed EEOC reports of sexual harassment grew by 50% in the following year, and a law was passed by Congress giving harassment victims the right to seek federal damages and back pay. A number of private companies also enacted sexual harassment prevention training around this time.

3. Michael Hancock, Mayor of Denver, CO

Our third instance of government harassment shows that sexual misconduct can happen even at the municipal level, not just federal or state. Michael Hancock was in his second term as mayor of Denver, Colorado when he was accused of sending repeated suggestive text messages to a female subordinate. In 2018, Leslie Branch-Wise, Denver Police Department Detective, gave an interview about her time on Hancock’s security detail during his first year as mayor in 2012.

Branch-Wise served on the mayoral security detail for several months, also facing harassment from a mayoral aide Wayne McDonald, before requesting a position transfer. But at the time, she only acknowledged the McDonald’s harassment and not the mayor’s, which resulted in McDonald’s firing and a legal settlement. In addition to payout for Branch-Wise, the settlement also included a payout for McDonald who challenged his method of termination and claimed defamation.

In Branch-Wise’s 2018 interview about the sexual harassment she faced from the mayor, she said: “It was extremely scary… Who do you tell if he’s at the top?” After the interview aired, Hancock released a public statement saying that although he intended no sexual advances toward Brand-Wise, he acknowledged that his text messages were “inappropriate” and that he “blurred the lines between our friendship and being a boss.” One year after this incident, Hancock was re-elected to his office in 2019 and continues to serve as Denver’s mayor. The city paid Branch-Wise a settlement of $75,000.

Preventing Government Harassment with Employee Training

Employees in municipal, county, state, and federal U.S. government should be aware of how to identify — and most importantly, report — workplace harassment. In order to maintain a welcoming and inclusive workplace environment among public service employees, it is vital that they receive sexual harassment training tailored to government agencies, which is offered by EasyLlama to ensure learners are well-informed of the harm that harassment and discrimination can cause. Encouraging government employees to acknowledge and report harassment can go a long way in preventing similar cases in the future.