Investigative Report of Alleged Sexual Misconduct and Reprisal at Yellowstone National Park

OIG initiated this investigation in September 2016 after the National Park Service (NPS) reported allegations brought forward by a Yellowstone National Park employee. This employee alleged that a pervasive culture of gender bias, sexual harassment, and financial misconduct existed in a work unit within Yellowstone’s Maintenance Division. He alleged that this behavior was tolerated, and even fostered, by a “men’s club” environment—one of insensitivity and arrogance toward other Yellowstone employees—that was pervasive in the division from 2011 to 2015. An additional allegation of hiring discrimination by a supervisor in the Maintenance Division was raised during the interviews, so we included this allegation in our investigation.

 

We found credible evidence that male supervisors and staff in the Maintenance Division unit created a work environment that included unwelcome and inappropriate comments and actions toward women. This negative work environment was allowed to continue because of the actions, or inaction, of supervisors. Specifically, the Maintenance Division supervisor should have known about and addressed some of the alleged misconduct.

 

Our investigation of the employee’s allegations of financial misconduct confirmed that the Maintenance Division supervisor had allowed his employees to use his Government credit card to make purchases, in violation of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Integrated Charge Card Policy. We also found that between 2011 and 2015, some Yellowstone employees made split purchases (breaking a large purchase into small, separate purchases in order to circumvent the procurement process). The employee’s allegation that Yellowstone promoted another employee after she made over $10,000 in personal charges to her Government credit card was unfounded.

 

We also did not find evidence of hiring discrimination by the Maintenance Division supervisor. Although we confirmed that he had told a subordinate in 2016 that he would not be hiring women to fill open positions in the work unit, we found that he later offered positions to two women. 

 

We provided our report on this investigation to the Acting NPS Director.