City, county updating their sexual misconduct policies.
Local governments respond to nationwide wave of allegations
The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County are updating their anti-harassment policies amid a nationwide wave of sexual misconduct and assault allegations facing men in politics, the media and other workplaces.
“The county executive will review and update current policies that specifically address the issues unique to sexual harassment allegations, particularly if those allegations involve elected officials,” said Raisa Koltun, chief of staff to County Executive Chris Abele. “We would expect the County Board will be supportive of these efforts.”
Last week, the city unveiled plans to overhaul its anti-harassment policy, which had last been updated in January 2011.
“We think in light of the current environment, it’s important for us to update them again,” Mayor Tom Barrett said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Barrett and Maria Monteagudo, the city’s employee relations director, said they began discussing changes to the policy several weeks ago.
In a Thursday email to city leaders, Monteagudo said the new policy will include “an unequivocal statement that harassment based on any protected characteristic will not be tolerated” as well as clear descriptions of prohibited conduct, effective reporting procedures for victims and witnesses and mandatory training for all general city employees.
The current policy includes anti-harassment training for new employees, Monteagudo said.
“We want to update the policy, we want to provide some training and we want to increase the accountability for everybody in the City of Milwaukee so that they’re better educated in terms of recognizing, responding to and addressing allegations of harassment, including sexual harassment,” Monteagudo said.
A draft of the new policy will be ready in the coming weeks, and will contain recommendations from a 2016 report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she said.
Barrett said sexual harassment has “no place in city government.”
“It has no place anywhere,” he added.
Ald. Tony Zielinski, a 2020 mayoral candidate, also announced last week that he is drafting a resolution to create a policy to put city employees through sexual harassment training.
“Anything of this substance, you want to codify it with legislative action,” he said.
Zielinski said his proposal is expected to be heard by the Common Council’s Finance and Personnel Committee this month.
Meanwhile, county officials are reviewing and updating their policies.
“In light of all that has been going on, I have begun consulting with academic and thought leaders on harassment policies, and we will be reviewing and updating our policies,” said Margaret Daun, corporation counsel for Milwaukee County.
Daun and Koltun said the updated policy would continue the county’s commitment to transparency.
“Sunshine is what helps rid governments of harassing behavior and covering it up only encourages that sort of behavior to continue,” Daun said.
The city’s new policy will include:
An unequivocal statement that harassment based on any protected characteristic will not be tolerated.
Easy to understand descriptions (including examples) of prohibited conduct or behaviors that constitute harassment.
Effective reporting procedures for employees experiencing harassment and employees who observe harassment, as well as multiple avenues to report it.
Clear definitions of roles and responsibilities by all levels including department heads, managers, supervisors and employees.
Protocols and reporting systems that provide a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation.
Protections for employees to feel safe and free of retribution when reporting allegations.
A statement indicating that the identity of individuals involved be kept confidential to the extent possible, consistent with a thorough and impartial investigation.
A clear statement that anyone who engaged in prohibited conduct will be held responsible in a meaningful, appropriate and proportional way.
Assurances that a department will take immediate and proportionate action when it determines that harassment has occurred.