The Light Comes On at the DWP : Major sexual harassment problem--nearly 100 complaints--is revealed

The last year hasn’t been a good one for the Department of Water and Power. First the employees struck for a pay raise; then the managers went hog-wild in feeding themselves at public expense during the work stoppage. Now a major sexual harassment problem comes to light within the nation’s largest municipally owned utility.

If the DWP’s management knew of the problem--as it acknowledges it did--why did the harassment continue? It turns out that nearly 100 sexual harassment complaints have been filed at the DWP over the last two years.

The scope of the problem surfaced only last week after the utility agreed to pay a $1.5-million settlement--the highest ever by a government agency in California--to Ruby P. Zilly, a former DWP security guard.

The number, severity and legal costs of these sexual harassment cases were unknown to the public and even top city officials, including City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who has been reviewing sexual harassment incidents and policies in the city work force. She plans to hold hearings next month to question DWP officials on their sexual harassment policies.

The fact that even a DWP commissioner was unaware of the nearly 100 cases and learned of the Zilly case only last month raises concerns about the quality of oversight by agency management.

DWP management recently noted that it takes time to change attitudes toward sexual harassment in the workplace. OK, but just how hard has management been trying? How long must women employees put up with behavior such as the outrageous physical assaults that have been alleged?

The DWP must hold managers accountable for monitoring harassment complaints and must create financial incentives for agency supervisors to enforce harassment policies. For example, when a complaint is found to be valid, the DWP could charge legal costs to the department in which the violation occurred. That would be a start in showing that the DWP means business in cracking down on sexual harassment.