Health officer violates state sexual harassment policy
A Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene investigation has found the state public health officer for Washington County William Christoffel as a violator of the state sexual harassment policy.
The allegations first published by The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail Sunday said that health officer Christoffel who has been on administrative leave since June 9, had made sexually explicit comments, played with condoms and hugged a worker.
Today the officer has denied that he made any offensive comments to his staff and said he would contest any action taken against him as a result of the findings.
According to a separate Associate Press report, the complaints of sexual harassment were originally made by Sandra C. Hoffman, assistant director of Johns Hopkins University's George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention in Hagerstown.
In the report prepared by investigator Hilda J. Davis based on interviewes of 13 witnesses from the Comstock Center and the health department, Christoffel had already admitted to seven offenses, including making sexually explicit statements, using condoms as a joke, hugging an employee publicly and referring to a school teacher who attended a school board meeting as "good eye candy."
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