House moves toward anti-harassment training
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives took an important step Friday toward requiring members and staff to undergo training to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination, a change that would bring employment standards in Congress more in line with the rest of the federal government.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a resolution requiring all members, congressional staff, interns and fellows to receive anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training, which currently is voluntary and completed at the request of each member office.
Each member and employee would receive training within the first 90 days of each session of Congress, or within 90 days of becoming a member or an employee. Each member office would be required to display a poster created by the Office of Compliance that outlines employees’ legal rights and protections and how they can report allegations of workplace violations.
The House is expected to vote on the resolution next week, according to the House Administration Committee, which oversees daily operations in the House. Mandating anti-harassment training already has the support of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training is a requirement for federal agencies and the majority of the private sector. Earlier this month, the Senate approved a bipartisan resolution requiring periodic anti-harassment training for senators, aides and interns.
Lawmakers in recent weeks have come under pressure to improve the workplace culture on the Hill amid reports of lewd comments, unwanted sexual advances and other examples of sexual misconduct. Two lawmakers, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., are facing multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Franken, who has been accused by four women — two of them anonymously — of inappropriate contact, issued a Thanksgiving afternoon apology and pledge in which he said that he “feels terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly.” He called himself “a warm person” who likes to hug people when they’re being photographed with him, but clearly, his embrace “crossed a line for some women.”
In other developments in the sexual-harassment scandal:
Law enforcement officials in Beverly Hills, California, are currently investigating a dozen sexual assault cases regarding people within the entertainment industry, including Harvey Weinstein and James Toback, police said.
The Beverly Hills Police Department declined to release the identities of any of the others who are being investigated. The department had said in the past that allegations against Weinstein and Toback — who have each been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women — were being investigated.
Numerous actresses, including Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Lupita Nyong’o, say Weinstein made an unwanted sexual advance toward them early in their careers. Rose McGowan, meanwhile, is among the women accusing Weinstein of rape.
Numerous women have also accused Toback, also a filmmaker, of sexual harassment or assault, including Rachel McAdams and Selma Blair.
Actress Uma Thurman wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving — except disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In a cryptic Instagram post Thursday, the actress wished her followers a happy Thanksgiving but added, “except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators.”
Thurman played an assassin in the Weinsteinproduced “Kill Bill.” She also starred in “Pulp Fiction,” another of his films.
Another woman has come forward accusing actor Jeremy Piven of sexual assault on the set of “Entourage.”