Larsen: It’s time for Colorado’s public leaders to stand up to workplace sexual harassment

Fort Collins Coloradoan: Last May, the Coloradoan published the results of a four-month investigation into workplace sexual harassment complaints fielded by Larimer County’s nine largest Colorado taxpayer-funded employers.

We sought answers as the #MeToo movement roiled in the national media and following the release of a nationwide survey in which 38 percent of women said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

At the time of our initial investigation by reporters Pat Ferrier and Saja Hindi, five of the nine government agencies surveyed either couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us whether they had investigated an allegation of workplace sexual harassment during the past five years.

Thompson School District, which still doesn’t track complaints filed by or against its employees, asked us to pay $1,500 for an estimated 56 hours of work district officials said they would need to compile the number of complaints received by the district over the prior five years and whether any were substantiated or led to disciplinary action.

I declined, as I believe that important work should be a matter of course for one of our county’s largest public employers.

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