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The entertainment industry continues to reel amid continuing sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein. Photographer Terry Richardson is also being blacklisted from the fashion industry after years of allegations; over 30 women have come forward against director James Toback; and George H.W. Bush is seeing a stream of groping accusations. Up on Capitol Hill, however, Congress has sort-of insulated itself from allegations of this nature. Or at least, federal lawmakers have made it very difficult for accusers to take their claims to court.
The Washington Post digs into stories from multiple women who say they were groped by lawmakers while they were interns. They never brought formal accusations, however, out of fear of destroying their own careers. If the women had done so, they’d have been met with the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act, which contains “a unique employment law” — that applies to interns, who are often teenagers — requiring sexual harassment accusers to attend counseling/therapy before filing a lawsuit:
Congress makes its own rules about the handling of sexual complaints against members and staff, passing laws exempting it from practices that apply to other employers. The result is a culture in which some lawmakers suspect harassment is rampant. Yet victims are unlikely to come forward, according to attorneys who represent them.
Under a law in place since 1995, accusers may file lawsuits only if they first agree to go through months of counseling and mediation. A special congressional office is charged with trying to resolve the cases out of court.
Indeed, this law was written by the U.S. Congress and only applies to the U.S. Congress. The process by which accusers must go through — if they choose to jump through extraordinary hoops — is noted as a confusing one. First, there’s only a 180-day window for victims to bring accusations. Upon doing so, 30 days of counseling are required, followed by 30 days of mediation. Only then can they bring a federal lawsuit against the person who harassed them. Further, all of these proceedings must remain confidential (meaning that no harasser can be publicly identified) until an accuser wins a lawsuit.
Not only does Congress’ policy favor the institution, rather than the victim, but throughout the entire dispute-resolution process, no lawmakers are in jeopardy of financial repercussions from these lawsuits. That is, any settlements paid out (and there have been some) aren’t paid by the accused lawmakers themselves. Rather, the U.S. treasury ends up footing the bill. In other words, taxpayers end up being the ones who pay, which makes the Congressional Accountability Act not look so … accountable, right?
(Via Washington Post)
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