Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

GAO testified that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has not adequately developed, implemented, or communicated the roles of its Offices of Internal Affairs, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Law Enforcement and the Treasury Department's regional complaint centers in addressing incidents of alleged sexual harassment and other discriminatory behavior. This lack of coordination has led to these offices conducting separate inquiries into the same incident. On five occasions between February 1989 and January 1993, the Bureau Director distributed policy statements to Bureau employees requiring a harassment-free workplace. Implementation of that policy, however, has been mixed. Among employees GAO spoke with, concerns and observations surfaced about the confidentiality, objectivity, and independence of some of the Bureau's inquiries. In addition, Bureau employees' general lack of knowledge about actual or potential Bureau actions against harassers compounded their concerns.