D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s former deputy mayor, John Falcicchio, is reportedly on the hook for inappropriately harassing a female employee. On March 8, 2023, an email was sent to the mayor and the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) from those representing the employee.
The matter was subsequently investigated by the office and found that the allegations “more likely than not constituted harassment.” But only two out of eight allegations were marked as substantiated. The first allegation included “physical advances,” whereby the former deputy mayor allegedly made inappropriate advances toward the worker from September to October 2022. The second allegation includes inappropriate text messages that involved unwanted explicit images and a graphic video.
The investigation began a week following Falcicchio’s resignation. He reportedly resigned “without explanation” and was thanked by Bowser for his nine-year tenure. Falcicchio also served Bowser as her chief political strategist through her three successful mayoral campaigns. Keith Anderson will be filling in for Falcicchio as interim deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
Falcicchio is the second official to leave the Bowser administration after Chris Geldart, the former deputy mayor for public safety and justice resigned in October following assault and battery charges. Bowser responded by thanking Geldart for his eight years of service and called him a “very capable and effective public servant.”
But Bowser recently released a statement saying that her office takes allegations of assault seriously. Debra Katz, the attorney representing the female employee, expressed her approval that the allegations were substantiated but added that the others that were left unsubstantiated were harder to prove because of the investigator’s records.
Katz then called for reformations when noting that a top official was allowed to behave in this way. She also represents another female employee that filed allegations against Falcicchio later in March.
