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发帖数: 29846 | 1 EPA Employees Watched Porn, Harassed Women And Got Promoted
11:30 AM 04/30/2015
Government watchdog investigations have found that at least two EPA
employees who were caught watching porn and sexually harassing female co-
workers were also awarded or promoted by the agency.
Furthermore, senior EPA officials largely ignored complaints by 16 women,
mostly employees, who accused one official of sexual harassment. Despite
these complaints, this employee actually got a promoted.
“If you sexually harass someone it appears you get a promotion,” New York
Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney said during a House Oversight Committee
hearing Thursday on misconduct within the EPA.
“If someone makes a mistake… they are subject to heavy action” by the EPA
, said Alabama Rep. Gary Palmer, a Republican. “Yet you have employees that
are sexually abusive of women [and children]… yet no one was fired. They
were put on paid administrative leave.”
“You’ve protected sexual perverts,” Palmer said, adding that the agency
was “morally corrupt.”
Testifying before the committee, EPA inspector general Arthur Elkins said
his staff found that agency employee Peter Jutro “engaged in offensive and
inappropriate behavior toward at least 16 women, most of whom were EPA co-
workers.” Worst of all, Elkins said, is that very senior EPA officials “
were made aware of many of these actions and yet did nothing.”
Instead of reprimanding Jutro, he was promoted to be Assistant Administrator
for the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security where he “engaged in such
behavior toward an additional six women,” Elkins said.
But that’s not all. EPA investigator Patrick Sullivan told Congress that
the agency gave an employee who was caught viewing pornography at work “
several performance awards, which included monetary awards ranging from $600
to $2,000 and a time-off award of 16 hours.”
“The employee admitted that — for approximately 2 to 6 hours during his
assigned work hours daily, over a period of ‘several years’ — he had
viewed and downloaded pornographic images on EPA computer equipment,”
Sullivan said. “The employee stated that much of his workday was devoted to
organizing the downloaded pornography into saved folders.”
The employee was actually caught viewing porn by an IG agent sent to
interview him, and didn’t even think he was doing anything wrong. The IG’s
office found 20,000 pron files on the employee’s computer, but the
government opted not to prosecute the employee.
“On March 24, 2015, the EPA notified the OIG that the agency had proposed
removal of the employee,” Sullivan said. “On April 22, 2015, the EPA
notified the OIG that the employee had retired from federal service.”
Republican lawmakers have held hearings over the last two years highlighting
cases where EPA employees were caught viewing pornography at work as well
as the agency’s creation of a Homeland Security arm that has stymied
internal investigations.
In 2014, the EPA inspector general’s office began investigating allegations
into Jutro’s alleged sexual harassment. The agency watchdog found that
senior level officials had not acted on any of complaints brought forward by
16 women. In one instance, Jutro made unwanted sexual advances toward “a
21-year-old female intern from the Smithsonian Institution.”
“The OIG determined that, in addition to his inappropriate behavior toward
the intern, from 2004 through July 2014, Jutro engaged in conduct and
exchanges considered to be unwelcome with 16 additional females,” Sullivan
said.
But Jutro was just the tip of the iceberg, according to the inspector
general’s office. EPA IT specialist Thomas Manning was caught viewing child
pornography and trying to delete it. Manning admitted to viewing and
holding child pornography — which is a felony.
“On April 13, 2015, Mr. Manning was sentenced to 30 months in federal
prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release,” Sullivan said. “
He was also ordered to pay restitution to identified victims in addition to
a fine of $12,500.”
Another EPA employee that worked in the Office of the Administrator was
caught viewing porn in April 2014 on a government computer “during work
hours by a child who happened to be visiting during the EPA’s ‘Bring Your
Daughters and Sons to Work Day.'”
“The OIG immediately initiated an investigation into the violation of
misuse of government time and resources,” Sullivan said, adding that the
employee was put on administrative leave in May 2014.
“[T]he employee admitted that he viewed pornography at work between 1 to 4
hours per day,” Sullivan added. “In addition, he stated that approximately
30 to 40 percent of the data stored on his external electronic media
devices contained pornography. Approximately 3,500 pornographic images were
recovered from the employee’s laptop and external media.”
It wasn’t until a year later that the employee “had been proposed for
removal” by the EPA.
EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Stanley Meiburg was there to defend the
agency’s record, saying that “employees who engage in serious misconduct
are not representative of the broader workforce.”
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