Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke pledged Friday to root out harassment across the National Park Service/NPS
Faced with a survey showing that nearly 40 percent of the National Park Service workforce has been the victim of sexual harassment, intimidation, or discrimination, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday promised immediate and lasting reform, saying "there’s an expectation that not only can (the Park Service) be the greatest stewards of our lands, but also they should be the greatest stewards of our values."
According to a survey of workforce behavior launched last year, 38.7 percent of the Park Service respondents complained about some form of harassment. Slightly more than 19 percent reported gender harassment, and 10.4 percent reported sexual harassment.
What perhaps is striking about the survey results is they were compiled in the past 12 months and show continuing abhorrent behavior long after national attention came to an investigation depicting a long-running and sordid chapter of sexual harassment within Grand Canyon National Park, as well as after former Park Service Director Jon Jarvis pledged his agency would take a zero tolerance approach to such matters. Congress held hearings into the matter, some called for Director Jarvis to resign, and the Park Service said it would root out the perpetrators.
Interior Secretary Zinke, speaking Friday afternoon to reporters during a conference call from the Grand Canyon after he discussed the survey results with park employees, said that approach wasn't taken.
"In the past, zero tolerance has been an empty phrase. Instead of taking real action against harassment, the National Park, some leadership, has fallen back and taken no action," he said. "Clearly, there has been sexual harassment, intimidation, retaliation within the Service, and that is not in keeping of the traditions of the fine Service itself.
“I can tell you, from the president and myself, that’s over. We’re going to root out this virus, and it begins with putting a new culture forward, a culture that embraces diversity of thought, embraces teamwork, a culture that embraces the best of the Park Service values and understanding how important it is of being the stewards of our greatest treasures."
Secretary Zinke's promise, though, was challenged by two Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin – the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee who requested a congressional hearing on sexual harassment at the National Park Service (NPS) in June – released the following statement on today’s NPS survey in which 38 percent of employees report experiencing some form of sexual harassment.
“Dumping this news on a Friday afternoon, without any clear next steps, suggests this administration still isn’t taking this problem as seriously as it should," said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.). "Stopping sexual harassment will require changing the agency’s culture, which has survived through administrations of both political parties, and that won’t happen unless Secretary Zinke makes this a genuine priority. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that Secretary Zinke takes command of ending sexual harassment, and I stand ready to work with (House Natural Resources Committee) Chairman (Rob) Bishop (R-Utah) to hold a hearing on this employee survey and next steps from the Interior Department as soon as possible.”
“I have repeatedly asked Secretary Zinke, both in person and through written correspondence, to prioritize addressing the culture of sexual harassment that has permeated the NPS,” said Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va). “This problem is far too serious and has gone on for far too long. We need long-term, systemic solutions. I urge Secretary Zinke to listen closely to the survey results and quickly implement changes that will eliminate all forms of sexual harassment in the NPS. I also implore Chairmen Bishop and (Rep. Bruce) Westerman to heed requests to hold congressional hearings to remedy this issue further.”
An investigation by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General in 2015 that discovered that for roughly 15 years life deep in the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon National Park at times reflected rowdy, sexually charged scenes from a frat party for some National Park Service employees, with male employees pawing and propositioning female workers, some of who at times exhibited their own risqué behavior.
While then-Director Jarvis said he expected complaints of harassment to be investigated, and disciplinary action to be taken, there were instances where some individuals were simply transferred to other positions. Those instances were raised with Secretary Zinke on Friday by Grand Canyon employees.
"What we heard was a lot of frustration from the employees is that there just was no action being taken," the secretary told reporters. "Individuals were being transferred, nothing was documented in their records, they could be promoted and then come back. The bottom line is we need to take action on harassment, intimidation, and that is clearly what we intend to do.”
To that point, at least nine Park Service employees at Grand Canyon have either quit or retired rather than face discipline, and two were terminated, Grand Canyon Superintendent Chris Lehnertz said.
Acting-Park Service Director Mike Reynolds, also on the conference call, said he knew of at least four instances across the Park Service where employees were either terminated or opted to retire.
"I have fired four across-the-board in recent weeks," Secretary Zinke added. "Many of the solicitors said I couldn’t do it, and I did it anyway because I think it’s an important part when it's credible, when the IG investigations exceed one inch. And this is intimidation, sexual harassment, abuse of a power over time. Action needed to be taken.”
While Mr. Reynolds outlined four steps the Park Service was taking to wipe out this behavior, including more investigative work and better training for supervisors and employees, the secretary made it clear that the workforce would either correct its behavior or look for jobs elsewhere.
Grand Canyon isn't the only unit of the National Park System with misconduct issues. Yellowstone National Park, Canaveral National Seashore, DeSoto National Memorial, and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area also have issues.
How successul the administration will be remains to be seen. A similar problem more than two decades ago prompted the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board to note that, “(A)gencies should find ways to capitalize on what is already known about the most effective actions that can be taken to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment; that is, they should publicize penalties and encourage assertive actions on the part of employees who are targets of unwanted sexual attention.”
The nearly universal awareness of sexual harassment policies among members of the Federal workforce indicates that agencies have done a good job in getting the word out about their policies. Less is known among the workforce about what happens to people who harass others. Employees should be made aware of how the agency intends to discipline proven harassers. Victims should always be informed about what happened to their harassers, and penalties should be public enough to serve as examples to potential harassers that management’s prohibition of sexual harassment is more than lip service.
Comments
Why does most everyone seem to assume harassment is male to female? I worked north of San Francisco for Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the early 80's as a first job. As a young heterosexual male, I was sexually hit on as "sport" by my fellow gay male co-workers, and routinely talked down to or bullied by many lesbian females. I was told that I did not fit in, and that I would not get promoted. As a result, I left. I moved into the hotel & hospitality, and found it be only slightly better. As I see it today, anytime a woman gets the job over a man, the man cries reverse discrimination and gender balancing discrimination. Then it goes on when a man gets a position over a woman, Black over White, White over Hispanic... Now your surveys are at 40% harassment and discrimination. There is no place left in the world for sexual harassment or bullying. I think the numbers in these surveys are meaningless. As someone once told me: "Figures lie, and liars figure".
Glad2bretired, you'd be right. I watched it, as well as being a recipient of one of his in-person speeches that went similarly. I wonder if the Secretary has any idea how much of a running joke it has become for his own employees that he trots that line out so much. A one trick pony if I ever saw one. Which is a shame, a career as a Navy Seal officer should be a proud one. When mentioned by the Secretary so much, it seems trite.
Actually it would make a great drinking game. "In my time as a Navy Seal.." DRINK! "WHen I was in the Navy..." DRINK!
Or maybe the Vegas books can get a little of the action. Will the Secretary deliver public remarks for more than five minutes without mentioning he was a Navy Seal? I'd take that bet. I hear that you can already bet on the profligacy of POTUS tweeting.
Sorry I'm being mildly nasty, but this is an important subject that deserves adult leadership from somone other than a overgrown twerp with skin thinner than tissue paper, being led by the "leader of the free world" who through experience and disposition is one heck of an expert in sexual harrasssment.
After reading through the comments I see at least one other person is already familiar with the drinking game. I told you he is a joke.
I have high respect for the Navy Seals, and this was reinforced upon learning that Secretary Zinke's former commanding officer capped Zinke's career over concerns about his character.
Jonathan F: You make a good point. Sexual harassment isn't always male on female. A heterosexual female friend had her career and health damaged when she rejected the advances of a vindictive lesbian supervisor. Filing an EEOC suit like she did often results in a 3 year nightmare. There is all kinds of sexual harassment going on in the NPS workplace, including a good number of false allegations mixed in. Things wouldn't have gotten to this point if the agency did its job and watched out for its employees, rather than sustaining its good ol' boy culture.
How about all the sexual harrassment that goes on with civilians on DOD bases? I am still waiting on my Eeo hearing. In fact I complained about it to ROB BISHOPS office in Utah last year. No help at all...so is there a code word that NPS uses that can be paased on so we can get some attention on this same situation?
Harassment and Bullying in the workplace take on many forms beyond sexual harassment:
Study: https://money.usnews.com/money/careers/company-culture/articles/battling...
One example we recall is when Redwood National Park's administrative offices were corrupt to the point of refusing to provide even
the most basic correct personnel regulations, the one alternative low ranking employees have is to install a communication channel with Federal Union
representatives. One of our cases involved Supt. Douglas Warnock's refusal to honor Vietnam Veteran preference employment, for example.
We had to do this during the corrupt administrative reigns of former Redwood N.P. Supt. Douglas Warnock and former Supt. Bill Ehorn. Fortunately, there
were very honorable people within the NPS's rival agency The U.S. Forest
Service who provided essential assistance to organize
NFFE Union Local 2091.
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/modoc/most-senior-forest-service-employ...
Study:
ALJ's Decision - Federal Labor Relations Authority
https://www.flra.gov/system/.../44%20FLRA%20No.%20105%20%209-CA-10505.pdf
https://www.google.com/search?q=EHORN+REDWOOD+NATIONAL+PARK&ei=2VFPWs3YJ...
Other forms of Harassment and Bullying of lower ranked employees originates
from the NPS's long history of Disrespect toward basic Integrity within scientific studies. Science cannot function in a bureaucratic atmosphere lacking INTEGRITY as we witness each day from The TRUMP Whitehouse.
This reality shows its ugly face when
Narcissistic individuals with questionable scientific qualifications are promoted to key positions and then
are encouraged to occupy or homestead these key positions from five to 35 years.
This situation became very prominent and real at the then newly established Redwood National
Park when a charlatan research biologist worked on official government time to discourage research he perceived as a threat
to his own lack of achievement. One case example is the project
to restore clearcut lands with densely stocked second growth
toward the attributes of an old growth coastal redwood forest, clearly
one of the most important ecological questions RNP continues to be challenged with to be resolved. Early in the 1980s, as one example on this issue, Dr. Thomas Bonnicksen submitted a great proposal but was discouraged and discriminated against by RNP's charlatan research biologist. A similar bullying case occurred in ignoring a local researcher who spent his career studying how second growth forests develop through time. This USFS scientist worked locally at Arcata's Redwood Sciences Lab. but was shunned. So, instead of choosing
a logical scientific source of information basic to solving this second growth restoration issue, another high ranking NPS charlatan employed by RNP was
permitted to waste scarce resource funds on what turned out as a bogus, ill-conceived
compost-making fiasco supervised by L. Lee Purkerson.
Nothing is achieved in applied science by Narcissistic Charlatans promoted to key positions and then allowed to homestead the job by an even more corrupt upper management guilty
of both harassment and bullying.
More on Bonnicksen's work: http://forestpolicypub.com/2016/06/09/ancient-forests-of-the-sierra-neva...
I just checked back on the NPS Director's "webchat" page as I promised way back when. Still no recording or transcript of this event, just: "(A recording of this meeting will be available soon.)"
However, the biography page for Secretary Zinke on https://www.doi.gov/whoweare/secretary-ryan-zinke mentions "SEAL" (all caps as it is an acronym) 7 times in 10 paragraphs.
To be clear, I have great respect for the couple of current & former Navy SEALs I know. [I have even more respect for the Navy EOD explosives guys I know who support the SEALs and sometimes get deployed with them!] I could not do their jobs. Their dedication to service to the United States and their missions leaves me in awe.
I have seen that same dedication to service to the US, and to the mission of NPS, in some seasonal or term GS-5 biotechs and WG-4 laborers on up through park superintendents. No matter all the other cr@p going on, including the bullying and harassing in many parts of NPS, that dedication to service and the mission gives me hope that NPS will persist "...unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations".
ps: Jonathan F is right that sexual harassment occurrs other than male with power to female with less power. The survey results actually include data on different gender combinations and ethnic groups. As I recall, the survey found sexual harassment in all combinations, although the results were not provided in a way that would support comparison of rates taking into account the disproportionate numbers of (white) males in the NPS workforce, especially at more senior management levels.