The FBI has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit by paying more than $22 million to 34 female recruits alleging they were sexual harassed and dismissed from the agency’s Quantico, Virginia, training facility, according to news reports Monday.
They women allege having been routinely harassed by instructors with sexually charged comments about their breast size, false allegations of infidelity and the need to take contraception “to control their moods,” according to the Associated Press.
The settlement is still subject to approval by a federal judge. But if the payout is approved, it would be among the largest lawsuit settlements in the history of the FBI, the wire service also reports.
“These problems are pervasive within the FBI and the attitudes that created them were learned at the academy,” said David J. Shaffer, the lawyer for the women. “This case will make important major changes in these attitudes.”
The suit was filed in 2019 and also contends the female recruits were judged more harshly than their male peers and “excessively targeted for correction and dismissal in tactical situations for perceived lack of judgment” and subjective “suitability” criteria.
The FBI did not immediately comment on the settlement. However, mny of the allegations in the lawsuit were confirmed in a 2022 internal watchdog report.
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