WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley rebuked the Justice Department’s Civil Division after a review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed a lengthy record of unaccountability in addressing sexual misconduct and harassment in the Department while rewarding some of the perpetrators with promotions and bonuses.
“The Civil Division’s systemic failures to appropriately document, timely investigate and punish perpetrators of sexual harassment and other misconduct undermines the integrity of the “zero tolerance” policy and jeopardizes employee confidence in the fairness of the disciplinary system,” Grassley said in his letter.
According to a review published by the OIG this month, the Civil Division lacked sufficient policies for reporting and addressing these issues despite a lengthy, prior review by OIG. Additionally, the Civil Division was not consistently referring cases of sexual misconduct to the OIG, potentially violating federal law.
The Department has even rewarded some of the employees despite formal, albeit insufficient, reprimands. In his letter, Grassley provided some examples:
“…despite having letters of reprimand in their personnel files, the Department rewarded a senior official found guilty of groping two colleagues and a senior attorney who admitted to stalking another attorney and hacking her computer. A male attorney who had received counseling for peeping into windows above the closed doors of female colleagues’ offices also received a performance award.”
Grassley sought answers from both Chad Readler, the Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division, and Inspector General Michael Horowitz. He requested information about plans to implement the OIG’s guidance within the Civil Division and any steps already taken to address this serious problem.
The OIG report comes amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct at other Justice Department components, including whistleblower reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Accordingly, Grassley inquired about the status of OIG investigations pertaining to those allegations of misconduct.
Full text of the letter
