Date: 11-02-2017
Democrats denounce House Speaker Jeff Hoover over sexual harassment settlement; Hoover says he will ‘absolutely not’ resign
The head of Kentucky’s Democratic Party on Thursday criticized House Speaker Jeff Hoover following a Courier Journal report that the Republican leader reached a confidential settlement over sexual harassment allegations by a woman who works on his staff.
“Sexual harassment is handled very seriously in the workplace and the speaker’s office in our statehouse should operate on a higher standard,” said Mary Nishimuta, party chairwoman. “This isn’t a political issue but a moral one. We can’t expect to work toward a better future for our state if misogyny is not just accepted but practiced by our lawmakers.”
Hoover, who is from Jamestown, and the woman who accused him of harassment have declined to comment on the matter.
Tres Watson, a spokesman for the Kentucky Republican Party, didn’t directly address the allegations against Hoover in a statement Thursday but denounced harassment.
“While we condemn sexual harassment in any form, current reports are based on nothing more than anonymous sources and 3rd hand copies of text messages,” he said. “Consequently, we don’t feel it would be appropriate to comment any further at this time.”
Courier Journal’s report cited sources with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they feared reprisal. It also cited a series of text messages provided by sources who said they were between Hoover and the staffer and that included sexually suggestive banter and comments.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat and a 23-year member of the General Assembly, said the case suggests the problem persists in the male-dominated legislature, citing a sexual harassment scandal just two years ago involving House Democrats and women who work for them.
“The culture up there is an attitude toward women that is very condescending,” she said. “They objectify women.”
Marzian also recalled the outraged speeches and comments of House Republicans after the last sexual harassment scandal involving Rep. John Arnold, a Sturgis Democrat. Arnold was accused of making sexual comments and unwanted contact with women on the legislative staff who said they repeatedly complained to House Democratic leaders to no avail.
“It’s amazing, especially after the holier-than-thou speeches that many of them gave back when it was John Arnold they were all in an uproar about,” she said.
The Legislative Research Commission, the administrative arm of the General Assembly, in 2015 settled the claims of three women against Arnold and several other legislators and administrators for $400,000.
Following that scandal, the legislature adopted reforms including a requirement that lawmakers every year must attend three hours of training and sexual harassment in the workplace.
But in 2017, Sen. John Schickel, a Northern Kentucky Republican, filed a bill to cut the training to 30 minutes, calling it “nothing more than an exercise in political correctness,” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“The ethics training is totally ridiculous,” Schickel said. “Legislators sit through three hours at taxpayers’ expense to be told by a bureaucrat who’s making six figures and elected by no one what’s ethical and what’s not.”
The bill didn’t go anywhere in the 2017 legislative session, and Marzian doubts it will be back in 2018.
“I would say no after this latest revelation,” she said.
Schickel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
By Deborah Yetter and Darcy Costello
The Courier-Journal
UPDATE:
Date: 11-03-2017
Hoover says he won’t resign over sexual harassment settlement
By Deborah Yetter
Louisville Courier Journal
House Speaker Jeff Hoover said Friday he has no plans to resign over a confidential settlement he reached last month in a sexual harassment case involving a female member of his staff.
“Absolutely not,” he said when asked by Associated Press reporter Adam Beam, according to a tweet Beam posted around 11 a.m.
The statement comes as Hoover is scheduled to meet later Friday with members of the House Republican caucus about pension reform where the subject is expected to come up.
Courier Journal reported Thursday Hoover had reached a confidential settlement over sexual harassment allegations by a woman who works on his staff, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Hoover had declined to comment.
A 20-year member of the General Assembly, the Jamestown Republican became the House speaker last year when the GOP took control of the chamber.
He is trying to garner support from his members to pass legislation to try to shore up the state’s seriously underfunded public pension system.
