Attorneys testified Tuesday that this process includes protections for both the accusers and the accused.
The Office of Compliance, established by the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act, is charged with adjudicating workplace disputes. Under the law, there is a detailed three-step process that requires counseling and mediation before an employee can file a complaint.
It goes like this: An employee must start the initial review process, which is kept confidential, within 180 days of the alleged violation of the law. If it's not resolved within 30 days, it goes to mediation, where the employing office is notified about the claim and the parties attempt to settle the matter by a neutral mediator appointed by the compliance office.
The mediation period, also confidential, is another 30 days but can be extended. If mediation fails, an employee can file an administrative complaint with the compliance office, which will handle it privately, or the employee can file a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court. Only then would it make the matter public record. The employee has 90 days to go to court if mediation fails to resolve the matter.
Barbara Childs Wallace, who chairs the board of the Office of Compliance, told lawmakers that there is often a difference between what is illegal and what is inappropriate, and the compliance office is involved in resolving all kinds of disputes.
"One thing I think that needs to be understood is there is illegal sexual harassment," Wallace said, "and there are bad practices. A complainant might not win in court with what their complaint is, but it can still ruin the morale of an office and be inappropriate."
To that end, Wallace said the compliance office has been recommending mandatory sexual harassment training since 2010.
Lawmakers, like Speier and Comstock, voiced reservations that the reporting process is too cumbersome and complicated to encourage people to speak up.
"I'm not convinced the system we have in place protects the victim at all," Speier said.
"Yeah, agreed," Comstock replied.
Speier is expected to introduce bipartisan legislation to overhaul the reporting process and how the compliance office handles complaints on Wednesday.