[T]he Legislature’s sexual harassment policies are under review in the wake of allegations that Sen. Norm McAllister, R-Franklin, assaulted a woman who worked as his Statehouse intern.
The 63-year-old Franklin County Republican faces charges that he sexually assaulted at least two women, including a 20-year-old who worked as his assistant earlier this legislative session.
Rep. Patti Komline, R-Dorset, who chairs the House sexual harassment panel, said Monday she has asked that the House policy formally extend to interns and assistants.
Each legislative chamber has its own set of rules for dealing with sexual harassment complaints.
Komline would like the new House policy to include a requirement that all interns for House members register with the Speaker’s office and receive a copy of the chamber’s sexual harassment policy.
House Speaker Shap Smith said he is supportive of Komline’s proposal to include language that extends the sexual harassment policies to House member’s staff.
“I would support that, I think one of the challenges that we have had throughout the process of adopting a sexual harassment panel is the question of who we have jurisdiction over,” Smith said Monday.
The new House sexual harassment policy would include members of the public who work in the Statehouse, including lobbyists, advocates and journalists.
Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, previously told VTDigger that in light of the allegations in the McAllister case, he will work with the Senate and others to establish an ethics panel and institute new rules requiring that all interns register with the pro tem’s office.
Court records indicate that McAllister sexually assaulted the intern at a residence in Montpelier. Following his arrest last week, a former representative came forward with allegations that he had sexually harassed her in 2007 on her first day in the Legislature.
Rachel Weston Eschenbacher, a former representative from Burlington, said when McAllister met her he said, “It’s nice to meet you, but it would have been better to meet you with your clothes off.”
Republican leadership later brushed the comment off as a joke, she said, speaking by phone last week from her home in Istanbul, Turkey.
“There are plenty of other jokes that could be made but I don’t think it was a joke,” Eschenbacher said last week. “It was a predatory comment.”
The House typically holds a training session each biennium about sexual harassment, bringing in an outside expert to review behavior that constitutes sexual harassment with lawmakers. The last training session was held in 2013, and was put on hold this year while the policies were under review. Smith expects a training session will be held at the beginning of the next session.
“I had never heard any allegations against Sen. McAllister,” Smith said. “You occasionally hear generic concerns expressed about harassment … but I don’t remember any specific allegations against anybody in particular.”
In some cases, lawmakers who experience sexual harassment in the Statehouse opt to handle it outside of official channels.
Rep. Barbara Rachelson, D-Burlington, said that after an encounter with a fellow lawmaker (not McAllister) in a previous session, she considered filing a report. Instead, she decided to handle the matter personally.
Komline said in the eight years she has served on the House sexual harassment panel, she does not recall that any reports have been filed.
Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, a member of the Senate’s sexual harassment panel, said the committee decided earlier in the session not to revise its sexual harassment policy. The recent developments with McAllister prompted her to change her view.
“Given the latest discussion, it would seem to me that we really should evaluate it overall,” Lyons said.
Unlike the House, the Senate has had complaints filed with the panel, including one as recently as last year. However, Lyons said, in the nearly 16 years she has served in Montpelier, sexual harassment “hasn’t been a part of the Senate culture.”
