Seattle Mayor Durkan Says She's Getting Rid of Sexual Harassment Settlements Inside City Departments
After a promise late last year to consolidate the city's process for handling sexual harassment complaints, Mayor Jenny Durkan today e-mailed city employees to tell them that she will stop allowing city departments to settle harassment claims.
Her letter insists that "we have HR professionals who work with the highest level of integrity to ensure harassment complaints are addressed with a sense of urgency, safety, and transparency." She continued: "Though they are doing important work on training and reporting, I know we can all do better."
As her predecessor was wont to do, Durkan also announced that she would be assembling an interdisciplinary task force to study the problem.
"The City will be doing an extensive evaluation of our approach to workplace harassment," she wrote. The task force will come up with recommendations by May and include Durkan's staff, Councilmember Mosqueda or a representative from her office and labor representatives.
Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/25/25751858/mayor-durkan-says-shes-getting-rid-of-sexual-harassment-settlements-inside-city-departments