Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo
Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a new executive order Tuesday that would expand the definition her administration uses to investigate sexual harassment between D.C. government employees, aligning with a 2022 local law. It would also prohibit romantic or sexual relationships between supervisors and their employees or employees and interns, although people currently in relationships may request permission to continue.
D.C. government officials said in a meeting with the press Tuesday that the order has been “many months” in the making, and that the administration has learned from experience since the mayor’s original sexual harassment order was released in 2017. Notably, the mayor’s latest update to policies comes after pressure from the D.C. Council and others following a sexual harassment scandal involving one of the mayor’s longtime senior aides, John Falcicchio. Falcicchio was found to have sexually harassed two lower-level employees.
The order released Tuesday expands the definition of sexual harassment by saying conduct “need not be severe or pervasive to constitute harassment” and “no specific number of incidents or specific level of egregiousness is required.” The previous order set a higher bar for what may be considered sexual harassment. An official said the mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel used the expanded definition when investigating accusations against Falcicchio.
The latest order also discourages unwanted physical touch, citing the...
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