Tag: sexual harassment

3 women say they were subjected to sexual harassment by Gordon Sondland — and faced professional retaliation after rejecting him

AlterNet logoThree women say they faced sexual misconduct by Gordon Sondland before he was the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and at the center of the presidential impeachment inquiry. They say he retaliated against them professionally after they rejected his advances.

In one case, a potential business partner recalls that Sondland took her to tour a room in a hotel he owns, only to then grab her face and try to kiss her. After she rejected him, Sondland backtracked on investing in her business.

Another woman, a work associate at the time, says Sondland exposed himself to her during a business interaction. She also recalls falling over the back of a couch trying to get away from him. After she made her lack of interest clear, she says Sondland called her, screaming about her job performance.

View the complete November 27 article by Julia Silverman, Kelly Clarke and Fiona McCann along with Maryam Jameel and Doris Burke  from ProPublica on the AlterNet website here.

DNC on RNC’s Continued Refusal to Return Steve Wynn Money After New Confirmation of Sexual Assault and Harassment

DNC Women’s Media Director Elizabeth Renda released the following statement on the  Nevada Gaming Control Board year-long report, which confirms previously reported allegations that former RNC finance chairman Steve Wynn engaged in a pattern of sexual assault and harassment for more than a decade:

“We already know that a woman’s word alone means nothing to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Time and again, we’ve watched McDaniel dismiss the dozens of brave women who stood up to tell their harrowing stories of sexual assault and harassment at the hands of Steve Wynn as insufficient evidence. We’ve watched as she helped fund the campaign of Roy Moore, an alleged child molester, and supported a president who has been accused of sexual misconduct by over a dozen women. But today, she’s faced with more than just allegations.

“So, how will the RNC respond to the conclusive evidence of Wynn’s sexual misconduct presented by the Nevada Gaming Control Board? So far, with the same silence we’re all used to. McDaniel said herself that if the allegations against Wynn were proven true, the RNC would ‘absolutely return 100 percent of that money’ he donated to the organization. Yet today, in the face of an admission of guilt from Wynn Resorts Ltd., the RNC has continued its shameful silence. What more is it going to take for McDaniel to keep her promise?

“This is the Republican Party. This is the party of Steve Wynn, Donald Trump, and Roy Moore. Democrats will refuse to stand by while the Republican Party denigrates women. We will continue to stand side by side with women all across this country because we believe that women must be empowered and respected.”

Grassley adviser resigns after sexual harassment accusation

A communications adviser to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) during the Supreme Court confirmation fight has abruptly resigned after an accusation of sexual harassment — an allegation he denies.

Garrett Ventry submitted his resignation Friday night, he said in a brief phone interview Saturday morning. He said he denies the allegation but stepped down “in order to not be a distraction” as Senate Republicans continue to work to get Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh confirmed.

“Garrett was one of several temporary staff brought on to assist in the committee’s consideration of the Supreme Court nomination, a team that has done outstanding work,” a committee spokesman said Saturday morning. “While he strongly denies allegations of wrongdoing, he decided to resign to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee.

View the complete September 22 article by Seung Min Kim on the Washington Post website here.

DFL Voices Support for Task Force on Sexual Harassment

In a letter today to Representative Erin Maye Quade, Representative Jamie Becker-Finn, and Lindsey Port, DFL Chairman Ken Martin voiced his support for the establishment of a Task Force on Sexual Harassment at the State Capitol. Per their previous request that the DFL name an expert to the task force, he appointed Former State Senator Tarryl Clark. The full letter is available here.

“This task force is a critical step toward creating a culture of respect at the State Capitol-one that empowers those who have been harassed, holds perpetrators accountable, and deters sexual misconduct in the first place,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin wrote in the letter. “We must work together to tear down the institutional obstacles that keep victims from reporting inappropriate behavior and perpetuate sexual misconduct in the workplace.”  Continue reading “DFL Voices Support for Task Force on Sexual Harassment”

The sexual harassment vote the GOP would like to forget

The following article by Ian Kullgren was posted on the Politico website January 2, 2018:

Republicans may vote on a bill that reverses action they took last year.

With the #MeToo movement in full swing, Congress is now preparing a bipartisan sexual harassment bill that would eliminate mandatory arbitration in sexual harassment cases — not just for large federal contractors but for all businesses.

Not long before a deluge of sexual harassment claims engulfed Capitol Hill, congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump quietly repealed safeguards to protect hundreds of thousands of American workers from such harassment.

Their target was an August 2016 regulation issued by the Obama Labor Department that required businesses to disclose certain labor violations — including sexual harassment — whenever they bid on large federal contracts. Continue reading “The sexual harassment vote the GOP would like to forget”

Joe Biden on Anita Hill’s sexual-harassment testimony: ‘I owe her an apology’

The following article by Derek Hawkins was posted on the Washington Post website December 14, 2017:

Anita Hill reflects on her 1991 testimony about sexual harassment, the slow pace of change, and today’s #MeToo movement with The Washington Post’s Libby Casey. (Video: Billy Tucker/Photo: Malcolm Cook/The Washington Post)

For the second time in the past month, former vice president Joe Biden has tried to atone for his role in the aggressive questioning of Anita Hill during a now-notorious 1991 congressional hearing.

In an interview with Teen Vogue published Wednesday, Biden said he regretted the way lawmakers treated Hill when she appeared before a Senate panel to detail allegations that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her former boss, had sexually harassed her. Continue reading “Joe Biden on Anita Hill’s sexual-harassment testimony: ‘I owe her an apology’”

Trump, a Veteran of Sexual Harassment Accusations, Scolds Franken

The following article by Michael D. Shear was posted on the New York Times website November 16, 2017:

President Trump in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on Wednesday. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump lashed out at Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, in two suggestive Twitter posts late Thursday night after the senator was accused by a Los Angeles radio newscasterof kissing and groping her more than a decade ago.

Leeann Tweeden, the newscaster, made the allegations earlier Thursday about Mr. Franken’s behavior while both of them were performing on a 2006 U.S.O. tour. She released a picture showing Mr. Franken, a former writer for “Saturday Night Live,” appearing to grab her breasts while she was sleeping.

The photograph prompted Mr. Trump to tweet that “the Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words.” The president then suggested that Mr. Franken might have gone on to take more liberties with the sleeping woman. Continue reading “Trump, a Veteran of Sexual Harassment Accusations, Scolds Franken”

Congress Took Three Decades to Come This Far, Sexual Harassment Victim Says

The following article by Stephanie Akin was posted on the Roll Call website November 11, 2017:

Dorena Bertussi filed Hill’s first successful harassment complaint in 1988

Shortly after Dorena Bertussi’s name was published in one of the first major sexual harassment scandals in the House of Representatives, she came home to the sound of a ticking clock on her home answering machine.

The police told her she might want to find someplace else to stay for a while.

It was one of many episodes that help Bertussi understand — perhaps more than most — why 29 years later a national firestorm over sexual harassment in American institutions has been slower to ignite in Congress.

Bertussi has since shared the details of her story countless times when women who worked in Congress or other government jobs approached her about following in her footsteps. It is no surprise to her, she said in a recent interview, that most of those women never came forward — and that even today, amid the cascade of public complaints against high-profile figures in other industries, members of Congress have been largely spared. Continue reading “Congress Took Three Decades to Come This Far, Sexual Harassment Victim Says”

McConnell: Moore Must Step Aside If Allegations True

The following post by Eric Garcia and Bridget Bowman was posted on the Roll Call website November 9, 2017:

Ala. candidate initiated sexual encounter with girl, reports say

Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore is questioned by the media in the Capitol on Oct. 31. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Updated 3:17 p.m. | Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is accused of initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32, according to The Washington Post.

“If these allegations are true, he must step aside,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.

Leigh Corfman said she was approached by Moore in 1979 outside an Alabama courtroom in Etowah County and exchanged numbers with him.

Later, he drove her to his house and kissed her, she said. In another encounter, Corfman said Moore took off his clothes and undressed her while she touched his underwear.

“I wanted it over with — I wanted out,” she told the Post.

Two of Corfman’s friends said she told them at the time. Continue reading “McConnell: Moore Must Step Aside If Allegations True”

Trump says sex harassment claims are ‘fake news,’ but there are corroborators

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 27, 2017:

Jessica Leeds was one of 16 women who came forward during the 2016 campaign to accuse Donald Trump of sexual harassment. Their claims, however, did not stop him from getting elected to the most powerful office in the world. (Video: Alice Li/Photo: Celeste Sloman/The Washington Post)

“All I can say is it’s totally fake news. It’s just fake. It’s fake. It’s made-up stuff, and it’s disgraceful, what happens, but that happens in the world of politics.”
— President Trump, remarks to reporters, Oct. 16, 2017

Jacqueline Alemany of CBS News: “Obviously, sexual harassment has been in the news. At least 16 women accused the president of sexually harassing them throughout the course of the campaign. Last week, during a news conference in the Rose Garden, the president called these accusations ‘fake news.’ Is the official White House position that all of these women are lying?”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Yeah, we’ve been clear on that from the beginning, and the president’s spoken on it.”
— exchange on Oct. 27 Continue reading “Trump says sex harassment claims are ‘fake news,’ but there are corroborators”