The Cost of Harassment in Washington

With the recent flood of reports of inappropriate behaviour by those in Hollywood and Washington, a recent release from the United States Congressional Office of Compliance (OOC) provides us with a glimpse of how much harassing behaviour costs U.S. taxpayers.

Here is the cover letter to the report:

....and here is how much harassing behaviour by those in Washington cost taxpayers:

That's a total of more than $17 million that was paid out as settlements over the two decades between 1997 and 2017 for 260 incidents related to Congressional harassments.  Note that these settlements are not necessarily for harassment of a sexual nature, rather, they include discrimination related to religion, disability and race.

In any case, while $17 million may not seem like a great deal of money given the size of Washington's budget, it speaks volumes about the harassment that goes on in the hallowed halls of Washington.

Fortunately, as shown here, there is a solution: