Workers: Sexual harassment also rampant at Forest Service

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two months after uncovering rampant sexual harassment, bullying and other misconduct at the National Park Service, a House oversight panel says similar problems plague the Forest Service.

A longtime employee at California's Eldorado National Forest said Thursday that the Forest Service "is rigged against women for reporting sexual harassment or assault," adding that male supervisors who harass or assault women are rarely disciplined.

Following the Sept. 22 hearing, lawmakers were deluged with "stories of harassment, discrimination and retaliation," Chaffetz said, not only at the park service, but also at the Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies.

Lesa Donnelly, a former Forest Service worker who now works with agency employees on workplace issues, said she has reported "egregious incidents of sexual harassment, work place violence, discrimination and reprisal" to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack since 2009 to no avail.

Lenise Lago, deputy chief of business operations for the Forest Service, told the oversight panel that at least 70 people have been disciplined because harassment or other misconduct in the past three years, including 30 who retired or were fired.