Audit of Policies and Practices Related to Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Within the Chicago Fire Department
Summary
The Office of Inspector General conducted an audit assessing the Chicago Fire Department’s policies and practices related to discrimination and sexual harassment.
Executive Summary
The objectives of the audit were to determine if CFD’s discrimination and sexual harassment prevention, reporting, and training policies and practices comply with relevant laws and regulations. The audit also sought to assess employees’ views on the Department’s workplace environment and culture related to discrimination and sexual harassment.
A. CONCLUSION
OIG concluded that, while CFD’s policies comply with baseline federal, state, and local laws, the policies themselves, as well as the complaint process and training used to enforce and promote them, are insufficient to meet the environmental challenges posed by a command and control emergency service operation like CFD. Furthermore, the Department’s culture and workplace environment may make some members vulnerable to discrimination and/or sexual harassment. The Department is not alone in facing these issues; nationwide, fire department demographics are relatively homogenous and share historical cultural challenges related to discrimination and sexual harassment.
Prior to this audit, CFD’s process for scheduling interviews for members who made formal complaints about discrimination or harassment placed them at risk of retaliation and potentially discouraged them from reporting misconduct. OIG sent a notification letter prior to the publication of this audit and the Department implemented policy changes in response.
B. FINDING
Historically, CFD has been the subject of allegations and findings of discrimination and harassment against non-White and non-male members. The results of an OIG survey of CFD members indicate that concerns about discrimination and sexual harassment persist within the Department. The survey also revealed negative sentiments some CFD members hold regarding non-White, non-male members, and toward inclusive hiring practices. These attitudes may contribute to an environment that some members believe places them at significant risk of racial and gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment. Two hundred eighty-five CFD employees, or 6% of the Department’s roughly 5,000-person workforce, responded to the survey. While their responses may not represent the views of all CFD employees, they do provide valuable insights into the Department’s culture.
OIG also found that the mandatory training the Department of Human Resources – Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity Division (EEO Division) provides to CFD is high-quality, but that it is not adequately tailored to serve the needs of the Department’s command and control structure, unique aspects of its workplace, and the tension arising from its history of overt racial and gender discrimination. Members think that providing specific training is a step CFD management could take to discourage discrimination and sexual harassment. An expert in workplace anti-sexual harassment trainings suggested to OIG that CFD would benefit from providing trainings directly relevant to the Department’s work environment and utilizing instructors with fire service experience.
Prior to this audit, CFD’s complaint reporting and investigation initiation procedures lacked privacy and left members vulnerable to retaliation. According to the results of OIG’s survey, fear of retaliation and concern that speaking up would hurt one’s career were two of the most common reasons members chose not to file discrimination or harassment complaints. In response to a notification letter from OIG outlining issues with the complaint process, CFD implemented changes to its policy that will help protect complainants’ privacy.
In our review of the investigation process, OIG examined closed, completed EEO Division investigations into allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment. OIG found that these investigations were high-quality, unbiased, and detailed. Some investigations took over two years to complete, but this was largely due to the Division’s historical lack of resources and large Citywide caseload.
The EEO Division receives complaints directly from CFD members and supervisors, or via referrals from CFD’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD). Because IAD serves as the first point of contact for some members reporting discrimination or sexual harassment, it is important for IAD to act with sensitivity and ensure that members feel safe going through the process. OIG found that CFD does not have written guidance for IAD staff on how to receive, process, and refer such complaints to the EEO Division, nor does it provide relevant staff with formal training on how to respond to complaints in a trauma-informed manner.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
OIG recommends that CFD provide written guidance and training to its IAD staff on processes for receiving complaints of discrimination or sexual harassment in a trauma-informed manner and referring them to the EEO Division for investigation. CFD should implement training for its members, supplemental to the training provided by the EEO Division, that is tailored specifically to CFD’s unique workplace environment and delivered by instructors with fire service experience. OIG also recommends that CFD appoint a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer to work on issues of diversity, discrimination, and sexual harassment. Finally, OIG recommends that CFD develop a strategy to include more safeguards to protect reporting members and victims from potential retaliation.
D. CFD RESPONSE
In response to our audit finding and recommendations, CFD stated that it will create written guidelines for referring discrimination and sexual harassment complaints to the EEO Division and will train its IAD investigators on trauma-informed interviewing techniques. CFD will provide its members with supplemental training on discrimination and sexual harassment that is tailored to the Department’s workplace. CFD will also work with the Office of Budget and Management and the Department of Human Recourses to add a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer position in the 2022 budget, and will continue to seek ways to increase diversity in its hiring process. Finally, CFD expressed its dedication to fostering a culture that does not tolerate retaliation, but stated that it will not develop a strategic approach to address issues highlighted in this audit until after the appointment of a new commissioner.
The specific recommendations related to the finding, and CFD’s response, are described in the “Finding and Recommendations” section of this report.
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