Eldorado National Forest worker testifies about assault
By Michael Doyle, Sacramento Bee
A U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Eldorado National Forest blew another whistle Thursday on sexual harassment and gender bias inside federal public lands agencies.
Reinforcing claims previously made by many others over many years, fire prevention technician Denice Rice told a House panel of repeated problems facing women, who remain greatly outnumbered by men in the Forest Service.
“Women who report sexual harassment are retaliated against,” Rice advised the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “It is your word against his, and you know the moment you open your mouth to speak up you are committing career suicide.”
Rice testified that between 2009 and 2011, her second line supervisor repeatedly harassed her sexually. In 2011, she said, he assaulted her; and then, she said, her life “became a living hell.”