A manager at Grand Canyon National Park sexually harassed an intern, the Interior Department’s inspector general reported Tuesday.
The manager, who was the intern’s supervisor, pursued a relationship with the intern for several months.
The intern initially told the manager she did not want a relationship, but she eventually agreed to go out with him once.
According to the intern, she did not go out with the manager again, but she and the manager continued to communicate through text messages until she ended the personal communication about two months later. Despite her objections, the manager continued to pursue a relationship with the intern by sending her text messages, the report found.
The intern said the manager touched her inappropriately while at work after she stopped communicating with him. The manager admitted to sending the unwelcome messages but said he did not recall touching the intern at work.
The investigation determined that National Park Service officials responded appropriately after the intern reported the sexual harassment.
The manager resigned from the Park Service in October.
This is not the first incident of sexual harassment among Grand Canyon employees.
A Interior Department inspector general report issued in January 2016 found that 35 women saw or experienced sexual misconduct or harassment in the Grand Canyon National Park’s River District. Most of the reported incidents came on trips down the Colorado River that were done for scientific, educational, or maintenance purposes.
According to the report, 13 National Park Service employees had reported a sexually hostile work environment to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in February 2014, sparking the investigation. The investigation uncovered 22 other women who said they experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct or harassment.
