Finally, a sigh of relief—the government is back open. After a month either working without pay or scrambling to find other means of work, workers from the Transportation Security Administration have returned to the headquarters in Arlington. Yet as employees across agencies spend their first few days regaining their sea legs and combing through emails, female TSA workers are once again left in the cold. According to a source who requested anonymity in order to avoid in-house repercussions, those who need to use the ladies’ restroom in the Pentagon City East Building offices were greeted with an unwelcome sign: It’s just above freezing in there.
There’s been no staff-wide email to alert staff in advance. Just a sign that reads: “In an effort to keep our restroom a little warmer, we have propped the door open.” But that solution proves intolerable for female workers on the team, explains the source. Two women colleagues noted to the source that they’re unable to use the bathroom with the door open, as the wall-length mirror parallel to the stalls is now visible to passersby. There’s no such message on the men’s restroom, according to photos reviewed by Washingtonian, and the source says one male employee said that everything seems “just fine” in there.
“I don’t exactly feel comfortable with the door being propped open,” the source tells Washingtonian. “[I’m] annoyed there’s no info provided, just an anonymous sign. Double annoyed that only the women’s room is affected.”
The TSA declined to comment, insisting that the query was better suited for the international development firm Brookfield Property Management, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brittany Shepherd covers the societal and cultural scene in political Washington. Before joining Washingtonian as a staff writer in 2018, Brittany was a White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review. While she has lived in DC for a number of years now, she still yearns for the fresh Long Island bagels of home. Find her on Twitter, often prattling on about Frasier.
