Rep. Blake Farenthold settled sexual harassment claim for $84,000 – By Leigh Ann Caldwell, Alex Moe & Garrett Haake (nbcnews.com) / Dec 1 2017
WASHINGTON — Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, settled a 2014 sexual harassment claim lodged by a former employee, two sources tell NBC News, a revelation that represents the first taxpayer-funded settlement of its kind that has so far been made public.
Farenthold’s former communications director, Lauren Greene, brought the complaint against him for sexual harassment, discrimination and a hostile work environment. Both parties agreed to settle out of court in 2015.
Rep. Gregg Harper of Mississippi, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, told House Republicans on Friday morning in a closed-door meeting that the Office of Compliance had made just one settlement for sexual harassment complaints, in the amount of $84,000 since 2012.
Two sources familiar with the case confirmed to NBC News that that settlement was for the complaint against Farenthold. That the congressman involved was Farenthold was first reported by Politico.
“While I 100% support more transparency with respect to claims against members of Congress, I can neither confirm nor deny that settlement involved my office as the Congressional Accountability Act prohibits me from answering that question,” Farenthold said in a statement.
After the case was settled, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation. That case was still open as of January of 2017, according to an annual report by the committee.
Farenthold’s payment to Greene was paid by the Office of Compliance, a little-known office that has received increased scrutiny since the issue of sexual harassment has gained prominence around the country and on Capitol Hill. The office was created nearly two decades ago after more than two dozen complaints of sexual harassment led to the resignation of then-Oregon GOP Sen. Bob Packwood.
When a settlement is reached through the office, the victim is paid from a taxpayer-funded account. More than $17 million worth of payments have been made over the past 20 years for various workplace disputes, but it’s unknown — other than Farenthold’s $84,000 payment — how much of that has been for sexual harassment claims.
In the court complaint from 2015, Greene alleged that Farenthold told another staffer that he had “sexual fantasies” and “wet dreams” about Greene. She also complained that the congressman consistently made comments to her to see if she was interested in a sexual relationship. Greene said these instances made her work environment uncomfortable.
Greene’s complaint also alleged a hostile work environment created by Farethold’s chief of staff, Bob Haueter. When she complained to Farenthold, her told her that Haueter often treated women staff in a demeaning way, according to the complaint. One month after she complained to Farenthold, she was fired.
Hauter remains in his position today.
The House Administration Committee is conducting an analysis of the sexual harassment complaint process. Currently, employees file a complaint with the Office of Compliance and must enter into a 30-day counseling period followed by a 30-day mediation and then a 30-day “cooling off” period before a more formal complaint can be filed in court or with a House administrative panel.
PB/TK – Congressman “so-so” come on down, you’re the next contestant on Who’s the Congressional Perv……… Yeppers, the ball is rolling and there’s an avalanche of FOIA requests about to hit the Congressional Post Office
