The D.C. Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to instruct an independent counsel to reexamine sexual harassment complaints against Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s former chief of staff, John Falcicchio, addressing concerns held by some lawmakers that the internal investigation led by Bowser’s legal office was insufficient.
Nadeau’s bill says the measure is “necessary to protect and give confidence to future victims and all 36,000 District government employees that their complaints will be taken seriously and handled appropriately and without influence.” Without that confidence, the bill reads, “some employees will be hesitant to file complaints, depriving themselves of justice and denying fellow employees protection from potential offenders.”
At a news conference Monday focused on public safety, Bowser said Nadeau’s bill was superfluous, given that the inspector general already has the authority to launch investigations without instructions from the council. And while Bowser said she would not veto Nadeau’s emergency measure, she questioned what an additional review would cost taxpayers — and what it would actually accomplish — when the MOLC already substantiated the sexual harassment claims made against her former top aide. Nadeau said Tuesday the inspector general’s office confirmed that it could absorb a cost of about $450,000 for the legislation in its operating budget for this fiscal year.
“I don’t know that the legislation is necessary. Then I go into, if it’s not actually or practically necessary, is it politically expedient for some members of the council? If the answer to that is yes, I would not be likely to support it,” Bowser said. Defending her administration’s process, she added later: “A claim was made for sexual harassment, it was substantiated, and the person responsible is no longer with the government.”
The MOLC is still investigating separate sexual harassment claims made by a second city employee against Falcicchio, who also served as the District’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development before his abrupt departure from the city’s government in March. After the MOLC released its first report, a majority of the D.C. Council openly questioned whether it was sufficient for the investigative arm of the executive branch to investigate itself when sexual harassment complaints are made against high-level mayoral appointees. (Under Bowser’s 2017 sexual harassment policy, an outside investigator is brought in when allegations are made against the mayor or their general counsel.)
Nadeau’s bill further instructs the independent investigator hired by the inspector general to review the allegations that were outside the MOLC’s scope; it also directs the investigator to review any new complaints that may arise related to the investigation. Last week, the mayor also asked the inspector general to determine whether a “management review” could address alleged workplace concerns raised in the first report.
D.C. Council members Kenyan R. McDuffie (I-At Large) and Anita Bonds (D-At Large), whose oversight includes the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the mayoral administration, respectively, have said they will hold hearings during the council’s upcoming recess related to the workplace concerns that have been raised and to examine whether the 2017 sexual harassment policy needs an adjustment. Though Bowser has pushed back against an outside investigation, she has said she respects the council’s “legitimate oversight role.”
Asked about Nadeau’s bill Monday, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said that while he found the MOLC’s investigation to be credible, “a lot of folks feel that it’s really not good — and actually is a bit of a disincentive to victims to come forward — when the agency investigates itself, which is the value of having somebody outside the agency.”
Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who joined Bowser at her public safety news conference Monday, both vocalized their support of Nadeau’s bill despite the mayor outlining her own reservations moments earlier. Parker said the additional probe is about “giving the appearance that this case was investigated thoroughly, fairly, in order to bring about safety for future women” in city government who may file a sexual harassment claim.
“There is no price tag that is too steep for securing justice in these kinds of instances of harm,” Parker said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Pinto recalled that in 2019, the council hired a law firm to investigate then-Ward 2 council member Jack Evans (D), who later resigned from the council over ethics violations. (Last year, an attorney for Evans said a long-running federal investigation into his actions had ended with no criminal charges.)
Referring to Falcicchio, Pinto added: “I do support [the bill] given that we are talking about, other than our elected officials, the most senior person in our government, that an independent investigation is warranted.”
Ten lawmakers have co-sponsored a permanent version of Nadeau’s legislation the council is expected to take up in the fall that would apply to future harassment allegations against mayoral appointees. Council members Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) and McDuffie did not.