The official worked at the Defense Department at the time of the alleged incidents.

The official worked at the Defense Department at the time of the alleged incidents. Westend61 / Getty Images

Former Acting DOD Comptroller Accused of Sexual Harassment, Using N-Word

The Pentagon inspector general's office says it substantiated several allegations against Douglas Glenn, now CFO at the Office of Personnel Management.

The Pentagon’s inspector general on Thursday reported that a former senior career Defense Department official, now employed by the Office of Personnel Management, used racial slurs, sexually harassed female employees and drank during work hours, creating an “offensive work environment” for his subordinates.

Douglas Glenn, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, joined the Defense Department as its assistant deputy chief financial officer in 2018 before being promoted to deputy chief financial officer in 2020, and from January until April 2021, he temporarily performed the duties of the undersecretary of Defense (comptroller). In November 2021, he transferred to OPM, where he serves as the agency’s chief financial officer.

The Defense Department Inspector General’s report investigates multiple anonymous complaints about Glenn’s conduct in the workplace, cataloging a laundry list of sexually suggestive comments made to female staffers as well as two instances where he was racially insensitive in meetings with subordinates.

The inspector general substantiated several instances where Glenn used phrases like “all balls, no bush,” commented on “how young” a female subordinate looked and described another employee as a “hot blonde.”

“The fourth subordinate told us that in November 2021, Mr. Glenn was talking on a speakerphone telling another subordinate that Mr. Glenn hoped some studly guy would be rubbing oil on her back at the beach,” the report states.

Glenn denied that he made sexually suggestive comments and said that “the comments did not sound like anything he would say.”

The report also highlights an incident during a February 2021 all-hands meeting where Glenn, against the advice of two subordinates, discussed a 2013 speech from former President Obama describing experiencing racism hearing people lock their car doors as he walked past their vehicles.

“They said that Mr. Glenn told the audience that the people who locked their car doors ‘might not have been racist’ or had other reasons for locking them,” the report states. “Seven of the eight subordinates told us that Mr. Glenn’s comment about President Obama’s experience with racism made them and other subordinates feel appalled, surprised, betrayed, stunned, and very confused, and that it was an inappropriate and insensitive thing to say.”

Glenn argued that he was trying to show how “people can look at things differently” on matters of race.

“Who are the people in the car that are locking their doors?” Glenn told the inspector general’s office. “Maybe they’re racists. Maybe they’re looking at a Black man and assuming there’s a high potential for being robbed. Or maybe they’re just following National Highway Administration guidelines to lock your doors when you drive. It could be either.”

In that same all-hands meeting, Glenn called on an Asian-American subordinate to describe how she felt as an “Asian female in a department that considers China its biggest threat.” Glenn told investigators that although the exchange was “awkward,” he thought he had “OKed” it with the employee ahead of time.

“Mr. Glenn said that he believed the all-hands meeting went ‘well enough,’ and he did not receive any feedback from staff voicing concerns about the content of the meeting,” the inspector general wrote. “[He] also stated that his performance rating for that time period was ‘Exceeds Fully Successful,’ leading him to believe that nobody complained to his supervisor about his all-hands comments.”

But weeks later, Glenn told some of his subordinates that he wanted to hold a second all-hands meeting on diversity and inclusion. During that discussion, he described an anecdote he would bring up in which he used the N-word.

“[In the story], Mr. Glenn complimented a former colleague on a sweater [they] wore, and the former colleague replied that [they] wore it to stop all of the negative comments,” the report relays. “However, Mr. Glenn misheard the colleague and thought [they] said to stop all of the N-word comments. [A witness] said that Mr. Glenn’s colleague corrected him and said [they] did not say the N-word but said ‘negative comments’ instead. [A witness] told us that Mr. Glenn said he thought the misunderstanding was funny because ‘when he relayed that story to a Black person, the Black person looks at him horrified. But when he relays that story to white friends, the white friends laugh and think it’s hilarious.’”

Glenn confirmed that he used the racial slur, spelling it out when asked to clarify exactly what word he used, but said the story was intended to “highlight the different reactions he received and to explain why it is difficult to discuss race.”

“Mr. Glenn told us that he watched each subordinate’s reactions as he told the story, and he did not believe anyone was offended,” the report states. “He said that a ‘very productive conversation ensued between us all.’ Mr. Glenn told us that he watched each subordinate’s reactions as he told the story, and he did not believe anyone was offended.”

The inspector general also substantiated two instances where Glenn had alcoholic beverages during work hours and offered them to subordinates. Glenn acknowledged that he stored alcohol in his office and occasionally drank, mostly after hours, but that he ceased when he discovered that employees are required to obtain written authorization to do so.

Since Glenn is no longer a Defense Department employee, the inspector general said it forwarded its findings to OPM Director Kiran Ahuja “to take appropriate action.” OPM confirmed Thursday that the agency has received the report.

“We are aware of the report and are reviewing the materials right now,” OPM said. “OPM is committed to upholding a professional and respectful workplace.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.