Philly's Office Of The Controller Opens Phone Line For Reporting Sexual Harassment Internally
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia government employees who feel they've been sexually harassed are being asked to confide their experiences to the Office of the Controller.
The office has created a new phone line to help an audit of the city's harassment procedures.
Controller Rebecca Rhynhart says the identity of callers to the line will remain confidential but their stories will inform the audit findings.
"It will give us more information around the subject than what is written down in the city's books, so there will be a broader picture painted of the current situation, so that we can fix it going forward," she explained.
Rhynhart says the line is open to current or former city employees, even if they didn't report the incident at the time it happened.
The phone line has a recorded message asking for a name, phone number and time to call.
Two lawyers in Rhynhart's office will return the calls with a list of questions.
"I hope through the audit we can improve policies and procedures around sexual misconduct to both save money and create a better workplace," she said.