Jeff Goldsmith on Your Tax Dollars At Work: Congressional Sex Harassment Settlements!

tp://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39637.html According to Politico, we taxpayers fund about $1 million a year in settlements of sexual harassment actions against Congressmen (about 38 cases in 2007, 25 with monetary damages).  HOWEVER, few staffers know about their employment rights, and efforts to educate them by email have been mysteriously blocked. 

My suspicion based on the tradition and history of Congress:  $1 million a year is peanuts compared to the actual prevalence of sexual exploitation of Congressional staff. Think about it:  30 thousand hot and ambitious young people and several hundred egomaniacs far from home.  Only a few egregious cases surface every couple of years, like the recent unpleasantness w/ Rep Eric Massa (D-NY).  The number of staffers potentially entitled to a claim is probably a very high multiple of the claims settled.  Inquiring minds want to know what the REAL number ought to be …