Report: Conyers Settled with Employee Over Sexual Harassment Case – By Griffin Connolly (rollcall.com) / Nov 21 2017
Rep. John Conyers is the latest member of Congress to fall under public scrutiny for sexual misbehavior after documents from a 2015 settlement with a former staffer over sexual harassment complaints surfaced.
The documents, which include four signed affidavits, were initially obtained by Buzzfeed News.
The Michigan Democrat used congressional funds and resources to fly his mistresses into Washington; made sexual advances on women in his office; and would become angry when one of his female staffers brought her husband around, the documents from multiple former employees allege.
The former staffer was paid a roughly $27,000 settlement drawn from Conyers’ congressional office budget — not the Office of Congressional Compliance fund set aside for congressional settlements.
The OOC has paid out more than $17 million over the past two decades for 264 settlement cases, some of which include sexual harassment charges.
Conyers did not admit fault in the 2015 settlement.
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan responded to the reports in a statement Tuesday morning, calling them “extremely troubling.”
“Last month, I directed the Committee on House Administration to conduct a full review of all policies and procedures related to workplace harassment and discrimination. A Committee hearing last week examining this issue led to a new policy of mandatory training for all members and staff. Additional reforms to the system are under consideration as the committee continues its review. People who work in the House deserve and are entitled to a workplace without harassment or discrimination.”
Two former staffers alleged in their affidavits that Conyers flew women into his office or to his apartments using taxpayer money.
“One of my duties while working for Rep. Conyers was to keep a list of women that I assumed he was having affairs with and call them at his request and, if necessary, have them flown in using Congressional resources,” one woman said in her signed affidavit.
One male employee alleged that he saw Conyers rub the legs and back of the complainant “in what appeared to be a sexual manner.” Conyers touched other women this way, the employee wrote.
Multiple former employees verified the complainant’s story in signed affidavits. The woman used the OOC guidelines to lodge her complaint and open up a case. This procedure has come under fire in recent weeks for being too onerous on the alleged victims of harassment and assault.
Under current procedures, congressional employees who want to file a complaint have to wait nearly three months before they can officially do so.
The OOC gives congressional employees up to 180 days after an alleged incident of harassment to request mandatory legal counseling. If they opt to do so, that legal counseling lasts for 30 days. If the victim wants to move forward from there, he or she must next participate in 30 days of mediation, where the employee and the office can confidentially reach a voluntary settlement.
After that two-month process, the employee can request an administrative proceeding before a hearing officer or file a case in federal district court — but only after a 30-day “cooling-off” period after mediation.
“The current process includes the signing of non-disclosure agreements by the parties involved,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said in a statement to Buzzfeed Monday. “Congresswoman Jackie Speier has introduced legislation that will provide much-needed transparency on these agreements and make other critical reforms… I strongly support her efforts.”
Matthew Peterson, a law clerk who represented Conyers’ complainant, told Buzzfeed the process was “disgusting.”
“It is a designed coverup,” Peterson said. “You feel like they were betrayed by their government just for coming forward. It’s like being abused twice.”
Other politicians who have been accused of sexual misconduct recently include Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Multiple women testified in a congressional committee hearing last week that other current and former lawmakers have exhibited sexually predatory behavior.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York introduced legislation last week with California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier that aims to do just that. The legislation, dubbed the Member and Employee Training and Oversight On Congress Act, or ME TOO Congress, would make response training for sexual harassment mandatory for all members and staff, including interns and fellows.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/report-conyers-settled-employee-sexual-harassment-case
PB/TK – The other day Michigan Rep Debbie Dingell had talked about how she was sexually harassed by another member of Congress when her hubby was a member, but she won’t mention names. Who wants to bet Conyers could be that guy?
