Report on former D.C. deputy mayor’s sexual harassment investigation will be released soon

WASHINGTON – New details have been released about the investigation into former D.C. Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio, who was found to have sexually harassed two D.C. employees.

D.C. government investigations confirmed two women’s allegations of sexual harassment against employees, but the report remains confidential.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau says the independent report is 115 pages long. The review is currently being conducted primarily to redact the names of accusers and protect their privacy and confidentiality.

Nadeau did not elaborate on the contents of the report, but expects it to be released sooner rather than later. She added that some new information had been uncovered, but elements that did not necessarily surprise her given the allegations.

“I’m hoping we can make some decisions pretty quickly this week about what can and can’t be released,” Nadeau said. “This is an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. So you can imagine what kind of content this report is about. But it wasn’t just about finding out what happened to these women, but also about how the government responded and what we could do differently and what we could do in the future.

Falchiccio was the former deputy mayor for planning and economic development and a key advisor to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Last year, two women came forward: one alleged sexual harassment, the other said Falcicchio had made sexual advances toward her.

The Mayor’s Legal Counsel conducted these two separate investigations into the allegations made by the two women, but questions arose about the actual independence of these investigations, which the Mayor’s Legal Counsel said were thorough.

The D.C. Council passed legislation authorizing an independent, third-party investigation to review the findings of the Mayor’s Office of Legal Council and further investigate allegations that were unfounded or outside the scope of the internal investigation.

This was completed yesterday and sent to Nadeau and several other council members.

FOX 5’s David Kaplan asked Brianne Nadeau about leadership at the highest level and how she thought it was handled from the mayor’s office.

“I would have handled things differently when it came to who was leading the investigation, but I also appreciated that they have now changed the policy to fill in the gaps and try to prevent this from happening,” Nadeau said.

When asked if she thought this report would lead to major personnel changes, she replied that she believed the person who should have lost his job had already done so: Falcicchio.

Nadeau said the report includes suggestions for how the Washington DC government can improve sexual harassment reporting and policies, and these will play a key role in upcoming legislation.

Falcicchio and his attorney have never responded to FOX 5’s requests for comment since this story broke last year, and there was no response from either man Saturday.

FOX 5 will stay abreast of any developments surrounding the release of the report. Check back for the latest updates.