Many in Congress took the same view. After VA's failed attempts at administrative solutions, Congress in November 1997 enacted a law requiring VA to centralize investigation and review of all EEO complaints, taking that power out of facility directors' hands. Mandating a specific EEO structure was a drastic measure. EEOC regulations generally give agencies great flexibility to design their own complaint systems. The law also required VA to significantly boost training on sexual harassment and ordered evaluations to be conducted by a third party.
Early indications suggest the new processes and added attention to prevention are starting to work.
Sexual harassment complaints make up about 3.5 percent of VA's total EEO case inventory so far this fiscal year, down from 7.7 percent in fiscal 1997. But it needs some more running time to see if that process can change a culture which was pretty ugly. We are watching this very, very closely. House observers, too, are cautiously optimistic. At press time, the House had scheduled another round of hearings for the summer to assess the situation.