WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's legal team announced Thursday that they reached settlement agreements with two women who reported sexual harassment by a former employee of the District, John Falcicchio.
The former DC deputy mayor abruptly left the Bowser administration on March 17, 2023 after working alongside the mayor since before she was elected in 2014. At the time, his departure was only acknowledged as a footnote in a press release highlighting leadership changes and thanking Falcicchio for his years of service to the city. Three days later, Bowser formally addressed the departure and announced an investigation into Falcicchio being handled by the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) after sexual harassment complaints were filed.
After numerous investigations, the MOLC found that Falcicchio had engaged in five instances of unwanted physical sexual advances in 2020.
Now, the MOLC says they have reached a settlement agreement with the women involved, though no further details were released.
"We can confirm that the MOLC, on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, has settled the two administrative complaints against the former Deputy Mayor," the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel wrote in a statement. "The confidentiality provisions in the agreements preclude us from disclosing the terms of the settlements, except as required by law."
The attorneys representing the women who reported the harassment, Debra Katz and Kayla Morin, also said they could not share details about the settlement, but released a joint statement in reaction.
"We want to again praise the courage of our two clients who came forward to expose both Falcicchio's sexual harassment and the significant flaws in the D.C. government's sexual harassment policy that allowed his behavior to go unchecked for too long," Katz and Morin wrote. "Their efforts, and the good that they did, led to significant policy changes in the D.C. government that we that we hope will improve the working conditions for city employees in the months and years to come.”
In the months following the departure, investigation and findings, Bowser's administration made numerous changes to office policies. In October, the mayor signed an executive order to update existing sexual harassment policies in line with updated federal and local legislation changed in 2022. The 24-page order banned sexual and romantic relationships between supervisors and employees in their chain of command. District officials said that before the order, these types of relationships were "strongly discouraged." Although some chains of command will be clear, officials said each agency will define what the structure looks like. Couples already in sexual or romantic relationships who wanted to keep their roles were required to disclose their relationship and were able to submit a waiver for consideration.
Under Bowser's new policies, all District employees are required to complete sexual harassment training annually, instead of every other year like before.
The order also expanded the definition of sexual harassment saying that conduct “need not be severe or pervasive to constitute harassment” and “no specific number of incidents or specific level of egregiousness is required.” The new definition was what the MOLC used to invesigate the allegations against Falcicchio.
Finally, a sexual harassment task force was formed to advise on future policies.
Do you have a news tip on this story or any other story? We want to hear from you. Tell us about it by emailing newstips@wusa9.com.
MORE WAYS TO GET WUSA9
DOWNLOAD THE WUSA9 APP
Apple App Store: WUSA9 News on Apple
Google Play Store: WUSA9 News on Android
HOW TO ADD THE FREE WUSA9+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for WUSA9.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "WUSA9" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE WUSA9 NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to our daily WUSA9 Newsletter for top stories from WUSA9 curated daily just for you. Get content and information right now for can’t-miss stories, Commanders content, weather, and more delivered right to your inbox.