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[ad_1] The policies direct sections to systematically track sexual harassment claims. Each allegation must specify the nature of the claim, whether it was reported to the inspector general or to security, and the disciplinary action taken. And they say that managers must account for such allegations before giving an employee an award or other public commendation. But the guidelines allow each unit to decide how best to enforce many of the new directives, a decision that critics say does not comply with one of the inspector general’s top recommendations of equal policy enforcement across the department. The department’s sprawling network of prosecutorial offices and other outposts employ more than 115,000 staff members. The different sections also have different reputations concerning how they treat employees. “There should not be discretion among components in how each applies a directive,” said Cathy Harris, an employment lawyer at Kator, Parks, Weiser & Harris. “You could...

[ad_1] The Labor Department told Democratic senators that it can’t collect data on sexual harassment in the workplace because it would be “complex and costly.” On Monday, Democratic senators dismissed that justification. In January, 22 Democratic senators sent a letter to labor department officials requesting the department act on studying sexual harassment. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) signed the letter and Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and others co-signed the letter, according to BuzzFeed. Referring to the #MeToo movement, the letter noted that “there has not been an exact accounting of the extent of this discrimination and the magnitude of its economic costs on the labor force. We therefore request your agencies work to collect this data.” CNN was the first to obtain the Labor Department’s response, which was addressed to Gillibrand. The department’s letter read , “There are a number of steps involved in any new data collection,...

[ad_1] A third woman has come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against longtime NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Last week Variety and the Washington Post ran pieces on Brokaw, accusing him of sexual predation by a former NBC correspondent named Linda Vester. According to Vester,  in the 1990s, Brokaw tried to force her into kissing him on more than one occasion and groped her in a company conference room. Another woman, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, claimed Brokaw acted inappropriately toward her during the ’90s as well when she was a young production assistant and he was an anchor. Brokaw claims no such incident happened. Now a third woman has come forward with similar accusations against Brokaw. Mary Reinholz, a veteran reporter, claims that Brokaw, who was married at the time, attempted to kiss her 50 years ago after assisting her with a story. “We talked and then, abruptly, he was embracing me and giving me a French kiss,” Reinholz wrote in  Th...