Sex harassment in Tennessee government: 460 complaints since 2010
She first felt uncomfortable when he told her “you look really hot in that top.”
It was the summer of 2015, and the female Tennessee government employee thought her male colleague had come into her office to discuss a work project.
His comments about her looks made her reach for her suit jacket. She told him his comment made her "very uncomfortable" and then tried to avoid him in the office.
He sent her a Facebook message a few days later.
“Yes, you are a beautiful woman,” her wrote. “Yes, you are my co-worker. Yes, every man who asks you to lunch has a hidden agenda.”
She wasn’t the only employee to complain about the same male colleague to her bosses at the Office of the Comptroller.
At least 460 sexual harassment complaints have been lodged against state employees or contractors since 2010, according to a Tennessean analysis of data across state government. Although the state has roughly 40,000 employees, that’s still more than one complaint every week for the past six years.
A Tennessean review of complaints filed in 44 state departments and commissions reveals the process of investigating workplace sexual harassment and meting out punishments is inconsistent from agency to agency — even though all employees work for the same employer: the state of Tennessee.
Sexual harassment in Tennessee government
- Tennessee statehouse an outlier in not releasing sex harassment data
- State HR officials don't analyze contents of sexual harassment complaints
A review of complaints shows that employees at one agency were given minor sanctions, even for potentially criminal acts, while some workers at other agencies were terminated for verbal harassment.
Nearly two-thirds of the investigations into complaints were closed because investigators said they found no wrongdoing.
In the roughly 190 incidents in which sexual harassment claims were found to have merit, the consequences for state employees who harassed co-workers, contractors or citizens varied widely.
The review comes amid allegations of sexual harassmentand assault plaguing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the scrutiny of expelled Tennessee lawmaker Jeremy Durham's behavior.
Gov. Bill Haslam would not comment on whether Tennessee state government has a problem with sexual harassment or if any policies or training programs have been instituted under his administration. A Haslam spokeswoman referred questions to Rebecca Hunter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Resources.
The department collects data on the number of sexual harassment complaints across state government, but does not routinely look at what's in those complaints or how departments address specific sexual harassment allegations. Hunter says sexual harassment is not rampant in state government, where employees receive regular training on workplace discrimination.
However, data provided by the department shows that from early 2010 to January 2016, more than one in five complaints received were for sexual harassment allegations.
"Here’s what I do know ... if we weren’t doing the training that we’re doing, I have no doubt that our trend would be much higher than it currently is," Hunter said.
The number of complaints filed is likely a fraction of instances of sexual harassment, according to a different report released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June.
Experts found that 90 percent of individuals who are harassed do not report that harassment, even though it is pervasive in the private and public sectors.
They believe up to 85 percent of women experience sexual harassment at work.
Different agencies, different outcomes
Nearly half of all agencies reviewed by The Tennessean follow a policy created by the state Department of Human Resources, while the remainder have crafted their own.
The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, for example, follows a Department of Human Resources policy that includes a 104-word description of what constitutes sexual harassment. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wrote its own policy, which does not include a definition of sexual harassment.
The Tennessee Education Lottery department's policy lists a half-dozen examples of harassing behaviors, such as the phrase "Boy, I sure like the way those pants fit," displaying pin-ups from Playboy or Playgirl or referring to someone as "girl," "honey" or "hunk." A dozen other departments' policies, however, are substantially similar to the policy from the Department of Human Resources.
Agencies varied in the level of punishment they meted out to offending employees, and some agencies consistently closed the majority of sexual harassment complaints concluding they could not determine whether harassment occurred.
At the Comptroller’s Office a second woman reported she rebuffed the same male colleague’s repeated invitations to concerts, and she was fearful he would show up at her home after she learned he had looked up her address in an internal database.
The complaints by the two women in the Comptroller’s Office ultimately resulted in no sexual harassment findings because the male employee was found to “have violated another office policy” and was fired before the investigation ended, according to Stephanie Maxwell, general counsel for the Comptroller.
Other examples of behavior outlined in sexual harassment complaints include:
- A Department of Labor and Workforce Development male employee admitted in 2014 to touching a co-worker’s breast and buttocks, and attempting to put his hand down the front of her pants in a file room at a MetroCenter office. She told him she would scream if he did not stop.
The man admitted those actions, according to the complaint, saying: “I held her, I have feelings for her and just wanted to show my passion towards her.”
His punishment: a two-day suspension without pay.
When a Tennessean reporter read the allegations outlined in a report, former Davidson County sex crimes prosecutor Kristen Menke said the security guard’s actions may have been criminal if the report accurately depicted the actions. “The elements of the offense of sexual battery are met for purposes of prosecution,” she said.
- The Department of Commerce and Insurance received a report of a series of inappropriate comments by an employee in January 2015.
Co-workers reported the man, while inspecting a school gym, pointed to a large banner depicting cheerleaders, saying, “Look at the legs on them. I wish I was in high school again.” After exiting a bathroom, he told a group of nursing students, “You better not go in in there, I just blew it up.” And he referred to a biracial couple holding hands as they walked down a school hallway: “I bet their parents don’t know about this.”
That employee was fired.
- A female employee at the Department of Commerce and Insurance reported in August that a male colleague saw her reading in a break room and said, “Did you know there is a whore house in Texas named after you?” She ignored him and kept reading, but later reported the incident. The man received an oral warning.
- At the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a male employee reported in March that a female co-worker hugged him while he was seated in his cubicle. After the man asked her not to hug him, she “took her hand and put it under my chin and said, ‘Listen to mama.' ” A week later the same woman brushed the back of the man’s head two or three times, saying “there’s my scarecrow” until he told her to "please stop.” The investigation concluded the allegations were “unsubstantiated” and no action was taken against the female employee.
At several state agencies, only a small percentage of complaints result in any finding of wrongdoing. At the Department of Correction, just 33 of 91 complaints were found to violate policy; at the Department of Human Services, nine of 28 complaints were substantiated, although three remain pending; at the Department of Children’s Services, 22 of 87 resulted in disciplinary action; and at the Department of Environment and Conservation, 10 of 38 investigations into complaints found violations. Because agencies follows their own policies, the language they use to define sexual harassment varies widely. Agencies variously define their findings as "violations," "found to have merit," "substantiated," "founded" or "rises to the level of workplace discrimination."
Workplace sexual harassment pervasive nationwide
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the work of a task force and academic articles show "anywhere from 25 percent to 85 percent" of women nationwide experience some form of sexual harassment at work.
That’s not born out in state data: Department of Human Resources officials said they received 376 reports between February 2010 and January 2016, amounting to less than 1 percent of the workforce during that time.
But no state official addressed the disparity of the number of complaints and the number of women who may experience harassment and not report it.
Federal agencies also have different policies
Tennessee is not alone in the public sector at having sexual harassment policies and practices that vary from agency to agency.
The federal government, likewise, has separate sexual harassment policies for federal employees depending on which department they report to. The variances are of increasing concern to officials with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency responsible for enforcing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against employees, including sexual harassment.
“That is something of a problem,” said Chai Feldblum, commissioner of the EEOC. “Those should be the same and absolutely consistent across state agencies."
When The Tennessean detailed two examples of complaints — the security guard who was suspended for two days after touching a co-worker's breast and buttocks and trying to put his hands down her pants, and the example of the Department of General Services worker who was fired after making inappropriate remarks in a high school gym — Feldblum said, “It really reinforces one of the most important things we say in the report. Workers have to believe their leaders are authentic when they say we will not have harassment in the workplace. The best way to show that is to have authenticity. That means a proportionate response.”
The EEOC has directed its Office of Federal Operations to examine and issue a report about varying sexual harassment policies and practices at the federal level.
In Tennessee, Department of Human Resources spokeswoman Ashley Fuqua said that requiring uniform policies at each state agency “could be something that might come up in the future, but now each agency kind of determines according to practices and its own policies how they will be disciplined.”
Asked about examples of two state agencies doling out different discipline for similar offenses, such as verbal harassment, Fuqua said, “I don’t know if we’d be comfortable speaking on how agencies discipline their employees.”
State human resources officials who collect data on state sexual harassment reports say there is an uptick in the number of complaints filed in recent years.
In many cases, offending employees are required to attend Respectful Workplace Training, a training class offered at all state agencies that covers sexual harassment as well as other guidelines for state employees.
Feldblum, the EEOC commissioner, said her agency discourages a single training applied to all public employees.
“It should be individualized to a workplace,” she said. “That’s very important. A lot of agencies think it would be an off-the-shelf webinar and that is not effective.”
Learn more about sexual harassment and your rights at https://www.eeoc.gov/ or share your personal experiences.
The Tennessee Department of Human Resources does not track sexual harassment complaints from agencies within the judicial or legislative branches of state government, or the contents of complaints received from executive branch departments, according to an analysis by The Tennessean.
The department doesn't look at what's in the complaints or examine outcomes to determine whether discipline is meted out equally for similar offenses from one agency to another, said Lesley Farmer, director of equal employment opportunity and assistant general counsel.
“Each allegation and each investigation should be handled on an individual merit,” she said. “You try to be consistent with policy, but each allegation is handled differently because it is a different allegation. So that’s kind of hard to really describe based on the circumstance because one fact can change the outcome of a situation,” she said.
The Tennessean's analysis found at least 460 sexual harassment complaints filed by state workers from 2010 through 2016. The analysis found different agencies use different sexual harassment policies and deliver varying degrees of punishment for offenses.
Farmer said Tennessee state government, with about 40,000 employees, does not have a sexual harassment problem.
“I don’t think overall it’s been a problem,” she said. “But if it does, or if it comes to something, we do have a means to address those issues. We do that through training, whether it’s for employees or for our managers.”
Department of Human Resources Commissioner Rebecca Hunter said in a telephone interview with The Tennessean that she is required to update Gov. Bill Haslam's office when there is a "non-compliance" with any human resources policies. But Hunter said they believe statistics about the number of complaints received show the state is in compliance.
Department data shows more than one in five complaints filed with executive branch agencies between early 2010 and January 2016 were for sexual harassment allegations. It wasn't immediately clear how many of those complaints were founded. Federal reports and other studies have noted many victims do not report when they are sexually harassed.
Farmer said no one reviewed individual state agencies' approach to investigating sexual harassment or the findings. There also is no state analysis of whether some agencies mete out harsher or varied punishments compared with others. Hunter said every month, human resources officials from executive branch departments get together to discuss any policy changes and best practices. She said she couldn't immediately think of any specific policy changes that have come in relation to the number of sexual harassment complaints.
State employees unhappy with the outcome of a sexual harassment investigation can complain to the human resources department or the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, Hunter said. There also is a formal appeals process for any punishment that could result from an investigation. However, the department's workplace discrimination and harassment policy states "the department retains the sole discretion to determine whether a violation of this policy has occurred and to determine what level, if any, of disciplinary action is warranted."
The Tennessean was unable to ask the majority of state employees who filed complaints if they would talk with a reporter about how their complaints were handled, because most state agencies redacted the names of those bringing complaints. The agencies cited privacy concerns, the Tennessee and U.S. Constitutions and a potential chilling effect if the names of those bringing complaints were released to the newspaper.
Only the Comptroller of the Treasury provided full complaints with no redactions, acknowledging that such complaints are public record.
Learn more about sexual harassment and your rights at https://www.eeoc.gov/ or share your personal experiences.
The Tennessee General Assembly is the most secretive state agency when it comes to providing information about sexual harassment in state government, according to a three-month Tennessean analysis that is part of an ongoing investigation related to disgraced ex-lawmaker Jeremy Durham.
The Tennessean requested raw data about the number of sexual harassment complaints filed since 2010 from 45 state agencies and departments, including the state legislature. Only the General Assembly did not provide any data.
That poses a problem for legislative leaders who say the actions of Durham, the lawmaker recently expelled in light of myriad sexual misconduct allegations, are not demonstrative of the state Capitol culture.
"The speaker certainly hopes all state employees feel comfortable reporting any harassment that may occur in the workplace. The General Assembly does not implement Executive and Judicial Branch policies," said Kara Owen, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Beth Harwell.
Harwell, R-Nashville, retiring Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and many others called Durham a bad apple in an otherwise safe environment.
But because the legislature won't release the number of complaints it has received, and how those complaints were resolved, there is no way any lawmaker or citizen can understand whether the legislature has a sexual harassment problem.
The Tennessean's analysis found more than 460 sexual harassment complaints have been filed since 2010. While that encompasses a fraction of the roughly 40,000 people working for state government, it still represents more than one complaint filed every week for more than six years.
Connie Ridley, the director of legislative administration, has refused to provide any information about complaints. But the Tennessee Department of Human Resources acknowledges that all complaints are public record.
The department's policy on investigations of illegal discrimination and harassment allegations includes a standardized form for receiving all complaints. The top of that form cites Tennessee code that states "all state ... records ... shall at all times, during business hours, be opened for personal inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law."
Ridley has repeatedly cited legislative policy when refusing to provide raw data about previous complaints or acknowledging the existence of any investigations.
The Tennessean's ongoing investigation noted in January that several experts determined the legislature's previous sexual harassment policy was mired in secrecy.
The General Assembly adopted a new policy in July, but some of those same secrecy issues remain. If an employee or lawmaker sexually harasses someone, a public record of their punishment will be included in their personnel file. Personnel files for lawmakers and legislative employees are public records. But there will be no notice of when that investigation is completed or when any findings are made public.
The Tennessean has regularly requested the findings of any investigations by the state legislature since the implementation of the new policy, but Ridley has rejected those requests as too broad. Ridley has either provided no information or ignored requests for findings of sexual harassment by specific lawmakers.
Ridley also has determined that the policy does not apply retroactively, and will not release the outcomes of any sexual harassment investigations in the past.
Human resources experts have said public consequences for sexual harassing someone are an important facet of ensuring a safe work environment. The special committee created to examine the sexual harassment policy at the statehouse suggested releasing raw data every year. But that was not included in the policy eventually adopted by Harwell and Ramsey.
"Sexual harassment cannot be effectively combated without complete confidentiality of complaints. If strict confidentiality is not respected, complainants will not come forward and sexual harassers will continue to offend," Ramsey said in a statement from a spokesman.
Although Ramsey did not specify what "complete confidentiality" means, almost all of the departments surveyed by The Tennessean provided information about specific sexual harassment complaints.
There are questions as to whether the legislature is investigating allegations that a lawmaker, identified in a scathing attorney general’s report as Rep. Jane Doe #33, potentially fired a former employee who was sexually harassed by Durham as a form of retaliation. Ridley and Harwell have repeatedly declined to say whether an investigation is underway or warranted.
Sex harassment in Tennessee government: 460 complaints since 2010
The Tennessean does not identify victims of sexual harassment.
State HR officials don't analyze contents of sexual harassment complaints
Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1. Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 and on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.
Excerpts from state employee complaints: