Hi everyone,

I want to let you know about a recent DOJ GEN action that we’re proud of.

Last month, we sent a letter to the White House and OPM urging the Administration to meaningfully address sexual misconduct in all federal workplaces. We explained how the Admin could do this through executive action requiring agencies to have effective systems in place to properly respond to the problem. We also included a comprehensive blueprint for how to ensure agency response systems are effective by outlining the foundational principles to which they should adhere, and the features they should include.

We decided to send the letter after DOJ created the Sexual Misconduct Review Unit (SMRU). In 2021—after DOJ GEN pushed for it—DOJ formed a steering committee to reassess the way it handles sexual misconduct. The committee, on which three DOJ GEN board members served, recommended an overhaul of the Department’s approach to what OIG described as a “systemic” problem at DOJ. Earlier this year, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco accepted the committee’s recommendations and authorized the establishment of SMRU, which embraces best practices and takes a survivor-centered, trauma-informed approach.

Our reasoning for sending the letter: the mishandling of sexual misconduct isn’t unique to DOJ; it’s an issue across the federal government, and every agency can go through a process like DOJ did to reform its response system before a media firestorm forces its hand. We realized that the President could issue an Executive Order directing every agency to undertake this process, or OPM could do the same by regulation. So that’s what we asked for, and we tried to lay the groundwork by carefully defining the problem and proposing specific solutions.

We’re glad that media outlets thought that our letter and this issue are important enough to cover. Bloomberg Law broke the story. The Federal News Network and Government Executive also wrote detailed stories about our effort.

I want to thank Colleen Phillips, and also Marnie Shiels and Eliza Dermody for their contributions.

We’ll be in touch if we learn that the White House decides to act. In the meantime, here’s recent news reporting related to allegations of sexual misconduct made in DOJ components:

• A sprawling Associated Press article describing allegations of rape and patterns of other misconduct (sexual and otherwise) in DEA’s workforce.

• Bloomberg Law’s story about alleged retaliation by Alaska’s U.S. Attorney’s Office against an AUSA for speaking out about now-former U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred’s sexual misconduct (follow-up piece here).

Best,
Stacey