Inside Washington

Three whole years after the Hill-Thomas hearings, Washington has learned how to handle sexual-harassment cases, right? Maybe, maybe not. A high-level supervisor at the Department of Housing and Urban Development who handed out edible candy panties and chocolate penises to his female employees at a HUD Christmas party last year has been quietly transferred to a different department and allowed to keep his $69,000-to-$90,000 GS-15 salary. "I guess they thought that was adequate punishment," a HUD spokesman explains.