New data released on settlements paid for claims in House offices

WASHINGTON » The Treasury Department paid about $174,000 over five years to settle claims that included allegations of sexual harassment or sex discrimination in House member offices, including an $85,000 settlement in a claim against former congressman Eric Massa, The Washington Post confirmed Tuesday.

The payment was one of 15 settlements involving House offices between 2008 and 2012, according to data released Tuesday by a House committee. The data omitted details of the cases, but it was the latest attempt by the House to be transparent in reporting how frequently claims involve accusations of sexual harassment or sex discrimination.

The claims involved a total taxpayer cost of $342,225, with about $174,000 pinned to specific harassment or discrimination claims.

The Treasury payments, however, offer only a partial accounting of money used to deal with sexual harassment allegations. Some House members have used office funds to pay “severance” packages to employees in an effort to resolve potential or existing workplace claims.

Massa, D-N.Y., resigned in March 2010 amid allegations that he had groped and tickled male staff members.

The $85,000 settlement, confirmed by two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, was negotiated after the accuser filed a claim through the congressional Office of Compliance. The 2010 payment came from a Treasury account that has recently come under scrutiny for providing taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment and other complaints against lawmakers.

James Doyle, an attorney for Massa, said Massa can neither confirm nor deny any specific Office of Compliance “settlements alleged to have arisen during his tenure due to the fact that he neither consented to nor authorized any such settlements and therefore has no direct knowledge.”

Lawmakers and their offices are represented by the Office of House Employment Counsel throughout the settlement process.

“If Rep. Massa were to have retained discretion and authority in any matter alleging personal misconduct on his part he would have asserted a vigorous defense,” Doyle said in a statement. “Rep. Massa denies any incident of sexual harassment or sexual discrimination as a Member of Congress or otherwise individually.”

The information sheds additional light on the system lawmakers use to quietly manage workplace complaints against them and their staff members.

The Office of Compliance, which only recently started to disclose data on workplace settlements involving lawmakers, previously disclosed the existence of six settlements out of the Treasury fund between 2013 and this year, totaling $359,450. Only one complaint to the office, which runs a mandatory counseling and mediation process, in the past five years involved a claim of sexual harassment.

However, little is known about settlements involving Senate offices.

On Monday night, the Office of Compliance rejected a request from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., for records of complaints and settlements that do not violate confidentiality requirements. Kaine had said he would publicly release any data he receives.

Susan Tsui Grundmann, executive director of the Office of Compliance, cited confidentiality requirements that restricted the office’s recordkeeping, and declined to provide the limited information the office does have, saying it “may contain inaccuracies.”