Survey finds race- and sex-based harassment 'common' at FEMA

WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency said they were harassed or discriminated against based on their gender or race, according to a survey released Wednesday as part of the fallout from allegations of sexual harassment by a senior official at the organization.

The survey by the RAND Corp. found that such civil rights violations were "common" at FEMA, reported by about 29% of the employees surveyed last year.

FEMA requested the survey in response to an internal report that found that the former head of the agency's personnel office had improper sexual relationships with subordinates and created a "toxic" work environment, including by giving preferential treatment to his fraternity brothers.

The official resigned from FEMA and the agency took steps to address the allegations, including creating an office of professional responsibility and requiring all of the nearly 20,000 employees to undergo anti-harassment training.

FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor said the agency would be taking additional measures in the coming months.

"Even though the data from this survey is more than a year and a half behind us, these findings are alarming and simply not acceptable," Gaynor said in a statement issued as the RAND survey data was released.

In a statement, the agency detailed a series of actions it has taken to address issues raised in the 2018 internal report, which included conducting an audit of hiring decisions taken under the former head of personnel and directing its Office of Equal Rights to address a backlog of cases.

The report featured responses from nearly 9,000 employees at the agency that leads the U.S. response to natural disasters and managed an airlift to bring in huge supplies of protective medical gear and equipment in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It found that 20% of FEMA employees reported harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex. A little more than 18% reported violations based on their race or ethnicity.

Few people felt comfortable reporting the violations, with employees saying they believed their complaint would not be addressed or they would face retaliation.

There are few, publicly available studies of employee discrimination with comparable data, so it is difficult to compare the FEMA results with other organizations. RAND conducted a similar study at the Department of Defense, but that population is more male and younger.

That earlier survey found 24% of women in the military experienced sexual harassment, slightly higher than what was found for women at FEMA.

Coreen Farris, the lead author of RAND's report on FEMA, said the results will provide a baseline for a follow-up survey planned for this spring. "Changing organizational culture and climate is no easy task, but one vital component is measurement of the problem," she said.