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Norton Requires Her Staff to Do Sexual Harassment Training and Encourages House and Senate Offices to Do the Same

November 1, 2017

Training is Already Required for Federal Agencies

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With the public controversy surrounding sexual harassment at an all-time high, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, the first woman to chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), took steps to have her own office take a 30-minute online sexual harassment training during work hours and called on her colleagues to do likewise. Such training is required by law for federal agencies, but Norton yesterday introduced legislation to subject Congress and its legislative agencies to the same comprehensive civil rights laws and federal health and safety standards that currently apply to executive branch agencies and private sector employers, which include required training and the posting of workers' rights. Congress passed the Congressional Accountability of 1995 (CAA) after then-Senator Bob Packwood was publicly accused of sexual misconduct. The CAA brought the legislative branch under 13 major civil rights, labor and workplace safety and health laws, but it exempted the legislative branch from important notice, training, and other provisions.

As chair of the EEOC, Norton issued the first guidelines holding sexual harassment to be a violation of equal employment laws, and the Supreme Court upheld those guidelines.

"It is time Congress took steps to fully abide by the laws it requires of private employers and federal agencies, including requiring training and the posting of workers' rights," Norton said. "Reported cases of sexual harassment by Members of the House and Senate and staff show that Congress is not immune from such harassment by high-profile or powerful figures. We need to do more to raise awareness and ensure a safe working environment for staff."