Subcommittee To Review Statehouse Sexual Harassment Policy
Al Such / WABE
Sexual harassment policies for Georgia legislators will be reviewed by a special subcommittee made up of five male lawmakers and a female chair.
The review comes at a time when allegations of sexual misconduct by dozens of high-profile men, as well as state legislators around the country, continue to be made public.
“We have, in our General Assembly employee handbook, spelled out a zero-tolerance for sexual harassment policy,” said Republican House Speaker David Ralston in an interview Wednesday, with WABE’s Denis O’Hayer.
“I think that it’s incumbent upon us to always look for ways that we can do things even better,” Ralston said.
WABE is aware of no substantiated, public allegations of sexual misconduct by current Georgia legislators during their tenures.
“I am sure that there are cases of sexual harassment out there, we need to make sure we’re doing everything possible to see that it’s being addressed,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, a member of the special subcommittee.
Henson said he has never heard of any specific incidents of sexual harassment, assault or misconduct.
“I’m sure there’s been things happening for years, and because of retaliation and other concerns – what it would do to somebody’s career –they’ve been suppressed,” he said, adding that he’s hopeful more women will feel confident and secure enough to speak out and get a fair hearing.
Ralston appointed the members of the subcommittee from the broader Legislative Services Committee.
According to state law, the Legislative Services Committee is made up of some of the highest-ranking senators and representatives from both parties.
The second-ranking Republican in the House, Speaker Pro-tempore Jan Jones, is the only member of the Legislative Services Committee who is a woman, she will chair the special subcommittee on sexual harassment.
An aide to Jones, said the speaker pro-tempore was traveling outside of the country and could not be reached for comment.
“We support the formation of this bipartisan subcommittee and encourage legislative leaders to take proactive and prompt steps to ensure policies and procedures are up to date, clear and effective,” said Helen Robinson, director of advocacy with the YWCA of Greater Atlanta.
“This includes making the process more transparent, ensuring that employees can come forward without fear of retribution, and making it clear that misconduct will lead to consequences.”
Robinson lobbies in the Georgia legislature to “improve the health, safety and economic empowerment of women and girls.”
Although the policies between the Georgia House and Senate differ slightly, both allow confidential complaints to be filed with the ethics committees of bipartisan legislative leaders. Those committees determine by vote how to handle allegations.
Robinson suggested the special subcommittee solicit input from female staff and legislators about problems they’ve experienced with the current harassment reporting process.
Henson said Democrats will file legislation requiring mandatory sexual harassment training for legislators, and an anonymous survey of legislators, staff and potential government agencies.
“The law and rules should be changed so that lobbyists or even a citizen who comes up here, if they feel there’s a case of sexual harassment of discrimination they should be able to file a complaint as an employee would,” Henson said.
The special subcommittee has retained the services of Tashwanda Pinchback Dixon, an attorney specializing in employment law with Balch & Bingham LLP of Atlanta, to review the legislature’s policies before it meets.
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