NYC Department of Education Failed Training on Sexual Harassment

The city’s Department of Education is failing to provide education on sexual harassment.

Only 62% of DOE employees from September 2021 to last August completed a mandatory training course on how to avoid and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace — one of the lowest completion rates of any agency, according to the annual Compliance Monitoring Report.

According to a report from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services released last month, the average citywide completion rate for all agencies was 79%, up from 74% the previous year.

Other departments with low rates include the Bronx County State Administrator’s Office (14%), which has seven employees, and the Department of Corrections (72%), which has over 8,400 uniformed employees. The Department of Energy employs about 142,000 people, which is why it had the most untrained employees.

Education officials are working to remind workers they need to get training, Energy Department spokeswoman Jenna Lyle, who first reported on the results of the training, told Politico.

“Our first priority is to ensure that all New York City public schools and satellite offices remain a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for both students and staff,” Lyle said.

The mandatory training is part of a series of 11 bills signed by then Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2018 to stop sexual harassment in the workplace in both the public and private sectors.

A month earlier, de Blasio came under fire from progressives after he questioned the legitimacy of 471 sexual harassment complaints filed by Energy Department employees from 2013 to 2017, or whether it was simply the result of “an over-complaint dynamic.”

He sought to deflect criticism over the fact that less than 2 percent of the allegations were confirmed by investigators.