“It turned into a very unpleasant and hostile work environment,” she added. The initial instances of harassment were bad enough, but “the real scary part was part 2,” she said. Still, she wasn’t prepared for what came next. She said she may have been more decisive in her handling of things because she was more experienced. And I was thinking to myself, ‘This is not going to happen,’” she said. When I finished the conversation, I left,” she said, adding that there was a second occasion when she found herself at his place for yet another meeting. “It wasn’t intimidating but it wasn’t pleasant. When she arrived, “He became flirtatious and tried touching me. The former official said that Falcicchio back in 2015 invited her to his apartment to continue a discussion they had been having around a work-related topic. However, when approached by investigators, some denied they had been affected, while others declined to participate in the MOLC probe. I had been told by two Wilson Building insiders that there were as many as 10 women who had experienced such discrimination. “It started just months after I was hired,” the former official with the Bowser administration told me during a series of conversations that began earlier this year just after the initial sexual harassment allegation against Falcicchio became public. Wilson Building, including at least one employee who has her own harassment story to tell. The District government could easily be home to a budding chapter of the “Me Too Movement,” given the reports’ findings and conversations I have had with various sources in the John A. Taxpayers can expect to pay a hefty sum to compensate the victims, especially since it appears Falcicchio may have abused his power and authority almost since joining the Bowser administration, creating what surely seems to have been unpleasant working conditions - if not an outright hostile environment where he was the predatory, salivating wolf poised to attack. He resigned in mid-March after the first complainant secured legal representation and sought an investigation. “We’re not prepared to talk about a settlement,” she said, seemingly contradicting Natale, who had already told reporters that there have been “informal conversations with the parties.” “And that really completes the MOLC work,” she added.īowser declined to answer questions about whether settlement talks are underway with the victims and their lawyers. It means we didn’t have evidence and facts to substantiate” the allegation.īowser said she was “grateful to for handling a thorough process and working diligently to get the investigation concluded and the summary released.” “Based on the record and Complainant’s description of the treatment, this does not appear to be rooted in sexual harassment and does not fall within the scope of Mayor’s Order 2017-313,” investigators wrote of the claim related to actions of that staffer.ĭuring a press conference on Monday where the report was briefly discussed, Natale explained: “Saying something is unsubstantiated is not denying it happened. The MOLC, which houses the sexual harassment officer covering the Executive Office of the Mayor, conducted “18 interviews with 13 individuals,” comprised of “both current and former District employees who were identified as possibly having knowledge related to the Complainant’s allegations.” However, most of the interviewees suggested that they knew nothing about the sexual harassment claims until they became public, according to Vanessa Natale, the MOLC’s deputy director.Ĭharges of retaliation by Falcicchio and of “retaliatory treatment by a senior staffer at DMPED” could not be substantiated. He also sent “unwanted, flirtatious messages” and asked personal questions about other romantic relationships in an attempt to gain the woman’s trust. In the newly completed investigation, the MOLC substantiated two of four allegations, finding that he made physical sexual advances during five incidents in 2020 - four of them at his apartment, according to the summary report. The same office upheld a first complainant’s allegations of sexual harassment by Falcicchio in an investigation completed in mid-June. This week, the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) concluded its investigation into harassment claims against Falcicchio by a second staffer in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |