ubject: Chief's Message on Harassment

Date: December 11, 2017 at 10:41:37 AM EST

To: undisclosed-recipients: ;

Last week’s online news story on sexual harassment in the Forest Service brought home a
national conversation on the growing intolerance for unwanted, inappropriate sexual conduct
and all forms of harassment. It gave me a timely opening to share why our national priority
to uplift and empower employees is so important and fits naturally into this dialogue.
The Forest Service is fully committed and working very hard to achieve a safe, rewarding and
resilient workplace for each employee. Confronting all forms of harassment is a must for
uplifting and empowering employees to meet our work environment goals.
Contrary to the news story, the Forest Service has owned up to the existence
of harassment. More importantly, we have taken significant steps in recent years to end it—
the latest being a stricter anti-harassment policy (released in September, 2016) and a newly-
opened call center a few weeks ago where employees can report harassment without
fear. Progress resulting from these actions is clear, but it’s not nearly enough. One case of any
kind of harassment remains one too many; and we are seeing more than that. Since
implementing our updated policy, we have examined more than 400 allegations. We
substantiated 83, including sexual assault—we removed that employee. Further, we recorded
34 cases of sexual harassment—employees were removed, terminated, suspended or received
reprimands, depending on offense. Another 51 cases of other forms of harassment were
substantiated and disciplinary actions were taken.
The work to eliminate harassment remains paramount—beyond our progress in mandatory
training, reporting, investigations, and taking disciplinary actions. The work ahead, among
other steps, must also center on permanently changing our work culture by uplifting and
empowering employees. Every employee possesses the right to a safe, respectful workplace
where they feel valued; but it takes all of us to protect that right. So we need to empower
employees with the right tools, training and support, so we learn and practice new habits. All
employees must share leadership for an inclusive workplace and embrace the responsibility to
do the right thing, knowing the Forest Service will back them.
Further, we must uplift employees—showing how much we care. This is
essential, but often overlooked in cases of harassment where healing and
recovery can take time. As peers and leaders we need to build a culture
that continually affirms and supports employees when they come
forward. It is akin to our work to create a safety culture.
The national priority to uplift and empower employees certainly transcends many other parts
of our work. But a critical opportunity is before us right now; we can move to permanently
change our agency and accept nothing less than the full embrace of inclusion, equality and fair
treatment for every individual. This accomplishment will create a safe, rewarding and resilient
work environment for all employees and ensure our success in accomplishing our mission for
the American people.
Chief Tooke