CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A manager at a Cedar Rapids Post Office was given a warning instead of a 14-day suspension after five different employees complained about being sexually harassed, according to documents our KCRG-TV9 i9 Investigative Team received through an open records request. It appears that manager was fired months later after other incidents arose.
A spokesperson for the United States Postal Service in an email statement told our i9 Investigative Team in April the Postal Service is committed to providing its employees with a safe work environment. Documents from the postal service have repeatedly said the federal agency has a “zero tolerance” policy when it comes to sexual harassment, which means “that every act or threat of violence, regardless of the initiator, elicits an immediate and firm response.”
Our KCRG-TV9 i9 Investigative Team spoke with a current and former employee of a Cedar Rapids Post Office site in April, who complained about a culture of sexual harassment in the workplace. Both employees told us complaints were repeatedly ignored or went without an investigation. Our i9 Investigation led to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asking for a federal investigation in April, which is supported by Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA01)