A growing sexual harassment scandal involving one of D.C.’s most powerful former city officials is sparking action in the D.C. Council, where lawmakers are proposing legislation to ensure future investigations are independent and others are promising to hold oversight hearings over the summer to better assess whether the current accusations might more broadly implicate workplace culture in city agencies.
The discussions within the city’s legislature come in the wake of now-sustained accusations of sexual harassment against John Falcicchio, the powerful former deputy mayor for planning and economic development and longtime chief of staff to Mayor Muriel Bowser. Those accusations were leveled by a woman who worked alongside Falcicchio; in a recent interview with The Washington Post, she shared graphic messages he sent her and described moments when he asked her for sex and once masturbated in front of her.
A second woman has come forward with similar accusations that are now being investigated by the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel, which similarly investigated and partially sustained the claims of the first woman against Falcicchio. And this week a third woman who did not work for the D.C. government told the Washington City Paper that Falcicchio propositioned her and denied her business opportunities when she turned him down.
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