Milwaukee sends sexual harassment policy proposal to city attorneys

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Attorneys for the city of Milwaukee are reviewing an updated sexual harassment policy for employees, one that emphasizes the seriousness of workplace misconduct.

Over the weekend, a city firefighter was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a co-worker. City leaders say they decided to revamp the harassment policy two weeks ago, and the goal is to give all 2900 city workers, which excludes police and firefighters, sexual harassment training in 2018.

They are currently working on signing a contract with groups qualified to give the training. The plan would not apply to the city's police officers or firefighters, who handle their own employee matters.

City leaders say the policy will let all employees know what constitutes harassment and make sure all managers know the process of reporting it.

"I think that employees need to understand how serious the city of Milwaukee is," said Milwaukee Employee Relations Director Maria Monteagudo. "And how serious any employer is in terms of understanding that sexual harassment, or harassment of any kind really has no place in the city of Milwaukee or any other workplace. It is just simply not acceptable."

The city says it cant't comment on the firefighters arrest for alleged sexual assault because it's under investigation. They hope to have HR managers trained on the new policy in January.

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