The IG report also found that some embassy staff “were influenced by the demands, hard driving style of the ambassador”, stating “had a negative effect on morale in some embassy sections.”
The department’s independent watchdog revelations come after CNN reported last month that Johnson, a leading Republican donor and heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune, was being investigated by the Inspector General for his alleged remarks, as well as after thought to use his official position to try to exploit the personal business interests of the President of the United Kingdom
The New York Times also reported last month that Johnson had discussed with the Secretary of State in Scotland in 2018 about the possibility of hosting the British Open tournament at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. Johnson told colleagues at the time that the president had asked him to help secure the choice of local, the Times reported.
Johnson published an apparent response to the media reports in a tweet last month, writing that he had always followed the ethical rules and requirements of my office. These false claims about nonsensical remarks about race and gender are completely contrary to my years-long record and values. ”
The ambassador was again reluctant to acknowledge any crime in Wednesday’s IG report, which recommended that the Bureau of the State Fraction of European and Eurasian Affairs – in coordination with the Bureau of Civil Rights – comply with Johnson’s ” of the Department of Employment Equity or Leadership Policy “and,” Based on the results of the review, take appropriate action. “
In Johnson’s response to a draft IG report, which he sent to the Inspector General’s office in May, the ambassador claimed that during his entire term in office, “and indeed for the rest of my professional life,” had both respected the law and the spirit of EEO principles and have ensured that all employees under my leadership do the same. ”
‘If I have inadvertently insulted in the performance of my duties, I deeply regret it, but I do not accept that I have treated employees with respect and discrimination. My goal is to lead the highly talented team at Mission UK to implement the President’s policies and to do so in a way that respects our differences, with zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, “Johnson wrote. .
“To address the concerns documented in your report, perceived as genuine, I have reviewed an S / OCR course on workplace discrimination and instructed the entire Mission UK country team to do the same, with 100% compliance at the end of May, ”he continued.
But Johnson wrote that “I respectively disagree” with the IG report’s recommendation for an assessment of its EEO compliance, and the Inspector General’s Office stated that the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs also “disagrees was with this recommendation ”in his own response to the draft IG report last month.
“The bureau stated that the ambassador saw the express concern, saw the Office of Civil Rights video on harassment in the workplace and instructed all sections and agencies to do the same. He also urged all staff to take the training of foreign services on reducing unconscious bias, ”according to the definitive IG report.
“The agency also represented that the ambassador is ‘well aware of his responsibility to set the right tone for his mission and we believe his actions prove that’, states the IG report, and the agency” reported that it is not a formal assessment believed was required. ”
Instead, the agency “suggested that, in collaboration with the embassy, it work with the civil rights office to provide advice and additional training to all staff, including the Chief of Mission, to raise awareness of these important issues.”
In response to the responses of Johnson and the Bureau, the Inspector General’s Bureau stated that it “considers the recommendation to be unresolved”, claiming that the actions of the Embassy and the Bureau’s proposal “did not approach ”described in the IG report.
The investigation by the Inspector General’s Office was conducted from September to December 2019, according to the IG report, and it appeared not to consider the allegations against Johnson regarding Trump’s Scotland resort.
