Women Claim Forest Service Hostilities

Forest Service women employees seek a court order against USDA director Ann Veneman and are claiming hostilities in the workplace. Most of the complaints are coming from California where many USFS women employees work.

Lesa Donnelly, a former Forest Service employee and lead plaintiff in the case, says the U.S. Forest Service has failed to "prevent or eliminate" sexual harassment on the job. She suggests that forestry officials are not investigating complaints and women like her are suffering from a "backlash" against directives to hire women during the early 1990s.

A U.S. District Court will hear the case in Oakland on July 18. A USFS spokes person is quoted as saying "We realize that we need to do better,".

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