Inquiries to congressional watchdog office fell in 2017

WASHINGTON — Despite intense attention on workplace sexual harassment, Capitol Hill employees made fewer inquiries last year to Congress’ watchdog, but the cost of settlements rose, according to new statistics released Friday.

Harassment and hostile workplace issues topped the list of reasons that employees reached out to the congressional Office of Compliance, according to its annual report covering fiscal 2017, which ended last September. Total inquiries to the office were down to 185 from 284 the year before. The initiation of formal complaint resolutions remained mostly steady at 47, down two.

The cost of settlements, eight in all, totaled $934,754. That was 63 percent more than the $573,929 in settlements in 2016 and 16 percent more than $806,450 paid in 2014, the highest recent year. The settlements were for claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation as well as contract and pay disputes.

Yet to be known is whether a push for accountability in Congress late in the year will show up in 2018 numbers. A number of lawmakers were caught up in harassment scandals, and leaders and rankand-file members pushed to revamp the handling of complaints.

House lawmakers moved to overhaul the chamber’s handling of complaints under the Congressional Accountability Act, which governs workplaces in the legislative branch. One major target was the reporting and resolution process, which lawmakers described as arduous and secretive.

The OOC report gives some indications that staff were showing greater interest in dealing with harassment on Capitol Hill. In a six-week period beginning in November, after the new fiscal year started, requests for training from congressional workers more than doubled. There were also twice as many visits to the OOC’s web site for resources about how to report sexual harassment.