Two lawmakers, Jackie Speier and Bradley Byrne, will appear on Tuesday as witnesses before the House Administration Committee in order to discuss ways of preventing what has lately been a hot topic – sexual harassment on Capitol Hill. Representatives from the Office of House Employment Counsel and Office of Compliance will also appear before the committee.
“We need to make certain that the House provides the needed sexual harassment awareness training, as well as policies that support a person’s right to report,” chairman of the committee Greg Harper said.
A bipartisan legislation has been introduced by Speier, which demands that lawmakers and staffers attend annual sexual harassment awareness training. They would then be obliged to file with the House Ethics Committee a certification of completion. Speier is also making efforts to review and improve the current process of reporting harassment to the Office of Compliance. Right now, this process is quite lengthy and requires mediation before a complaint can be filed. She argues this discourages employees from reporting sexual harassment. Speier herself is a victim of harassment in the workplace. Byrne, on the other hand is an experienced labor and employment lawyer, with over 30 years of practicing law, and has overseen numerous investigations into such incidents.
“He looks forward to providing the committee with suggestions and proposals to help strengthen current House policies regarding harassment,” Byrne spokesman said.
Former chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Eleanor Holmes Norton has asked to take part in the hearing and provide insight, but the committee has not listed her as one of the witnesses for the hearing. Speaker Paul Ryan also urged that sexual harassment awareness training be made obligatory for employees on Capitol Hill.
“Each of us has a responsibility to ensure a workplace that is free from discrimination, harassment and retaliation,” he wrote in a letter last week.
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