Earlier this year, Government Executive reported on numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment at SIPI. One employee accused Eric Christensen, the vice president of college operations, of sexual assaulting her, a claim he denied. In an interview with Government Executive, Christensen called his accuser “a liar." According to the publication, he refused to be interviewed in person by police officers about the allegation, telling them: “She’s fat, she’s ugly, she’s old." As of the story's publication in February, Christensen had been on paid leave for 16 months. He continued to draw his annual salary of $109,800 while his conduct was being investigated, Government Executive reported. Christensen continues to be listed on SIPI's staff directory. He is one of two vice presidents at the college and oversees the program that handles student complaints, according to a policy document. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at the Indian Health Service in Arizona between 2002 and 2013 before being hired at SIPI. Both Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney have vowed zero tolerance for sexual harassment and misconduct. Neither the BIA, nor the BIE, however, have publicly made available their harassment policies or their plans to address harassment within the workforce. According to a landmark study released almost a year ago, the BIA suffers from the highest rate of harassment -- particularly racial and sexual harassment -- of all agencies at the Department of the Interior . The BIE falls under the BIA. As of September 30, 2018, BIE employees filed 13 complaints over the prior year, according to data posted in compliance with the federal No Fear Act. Another 20 complaints were filed at the BIA, the data shows. The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act, also known as the No Fear Act, requires federal agencies to provide annual reports on complaints that have been filed.Here we are! #SIPI #TribalCollege 👋🏽 pic.twitter.com/HuNHan6Xtk
— SIPI (@SIPI_Eagles) July 28, 2017
Office of the Inspector General Report
Investigation of Misconduct and Mismanagement at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
(December 4, 2018)
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