The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division today
announced a second initiative to combat sexual harassment; the effort announced
today—the Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Initiative (SHWI)—focuses on
workplace sexual harassment in the public sector.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against state and local government
employers. The law prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race,
color, national origin, sex, and religion. Sexual harassment is among the
conduct prohibited by the law because it is a form of sex discrimination.
The Justice Department will also announce its first
enforcement action brought under the SHWI. The Justice Department will file a
lawsuit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston Fire Department
(HFD) discriminated against two female firefighters on the basis of sex in
violation of Title VII when it allowed them to be subjected to sexual
harassment in the workplace.
As part of the Initiative, the Justice Department will
continue to bring sex discrimination claims against state and local government
employers with a renewed emphasis on sexual harassment charges. The Department
will also work to develop effective remedial measures that can be used to hold
public sector employers accountable where Title VII violations have been found,
including identifying changes to existing employer practices and policies that
will result in safe work environments.
Through the Initiative, the Department will also conduct
outreach to state and local government employers that centers around five
critical areas: (1) creating trusted and safe avenues for employees to report
sexual harassment; (2) ensuring management support for anti-discrimination
policies and practices; (3) implementing accountability measures to ensure the
timely and effective resolution of sexual harassment complaints; (4) adopting
comprehensive anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures that include
regular, tailored, and interactive training for employees; and (5) providing
safeguards against retaliation for persons who report sexual harassment and for
employees who support them.
“All Americans are entitled to work with dignity in a place
that is free of sexual harassment,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John
Gore for the Civil Rights Division, in announcing the Initiative. “Through
enforcement actions, effective remedial measures, and outreach, the Justice
Department—under Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ leadership—will fight to
eliminate sexual harassment among public sector employers.”
The creation of this Initiative reflects the Department of
Justice’s commitment to the aggressive enforcement of the nation’s
anti-discrimination laws and an expansion of the Civil Rights Division’s
efforts to eradicate sexual harassment under the leadership of Attorney General
Jeff Sessions.
In October 2017, the Justice Department announced the Civil
Rights Division’s first initiative to combat sexual harassment, the Sexual Harassment
in Housing Initiative. In 2017, the Justice Department recovered more than $1
million in damages for victims of harassment in housing. Many instances of
sexual harassment in housing continue to go unreported. The Justice
Department’s investigations frequently uncover sexual harassment that has been
ongoing for years or decades and identify numerous victims who never reported
the conduct to federal authorities.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division, its
enforcement of Title VII and other civil rights laws it enforces is available
on its Web sites at http://www.justice.gov/crt/ and
http://www.justice.gov/crt/emp.
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