Krueger-Braneky pushes sex harassment package of bills
“This bill would ensure that victims and survivors have laws that represent substance in this fight against volatile workplace environments. This bill also helps the many victims who hesitate to come forward due to fear of retaliation and fear of not being heard or believed. Workplace safety includes creating a culture where every employee feels safe and comfortable going to work.”
-State Rep. Margo Davidson, D-164 of Upper Darby
Two Delaware County legislators are urging the state House to move forward on a package of bills aimed at reforming and strengthening protections against sexual harassment and discrimination for employees – including those at the state Capitol.
“The next step after this hearing should be a vote on the resolutions and bills before us today,” said state Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Swarthmore, during testimony before the Labor and Industry Committee earlier this week. “We need to change the culture here, and these bills deserve a vote.”
Krueger-Braneky is the co-prime sponsor of House Bill 1965 – also known as the #MeToo Pennsylvania General Assembly Act – with state Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-116 of Butler Township, who earlier this year accused fellow state Rep. Nick Miccarelli, R-162 of Ridley Park, of physically abusing and threatening her during their relationship.
Krueger-Braneky said the daylong hearing was the first on sexual harassment in the workplace in memory, and included speakers who work with survivors of sexual assault, a panel of attorneys who represent employees and employers, and legislators who had introduced bills to the committee.
State Rep. Margo Davidson, D-164 of Upper Darby, also testified on her bill, H.B. 2286, which would extend the statute of limitations for filing a complaint with the Human Relations Council from 180 days to two years and provide plaintiffs a right to trial by jury.
“This bill would ensure that victims and survivors have laws that represent substance in this fight against volatile workplace environments,” said Davidson. “This bill also helps the many victims who hesitate to come forward due to fear of retaliation and fear of not being heard or believed. Workplace safety includes creating a culture where every employee feels safe and comfortable going to work.”
Krueger-Braneky said she began working on her bill six months ago, after publicly sharing that she is among 81 percent of women who have experienced sexual harassment as part of the #MeToo movement.
“After I shared my own story, women who work in this Capitol started to come to me to share their stories, and I learned that many of the alleged perpetrators were legislators,” she said at the hearing. “I heard stories from women who were discouraged from ever filing a complaint in the first place, stories from women who faced retaliation, and stories from women who believed legislators would never be held responsible for their actions.”
It was that movement that also spurred Toohil and a political consultant to file a confidential report with House leadership in early February. Toohil alleged in that complaint that Miccarelli kicked, pinched and hit her while they were dating, including at legislative events they attended together. He also allegedly held her against the wall of her Capitol office by the neck, pointed a gun at her in 2012 and at one point threatened to kill them both by crashing a vehicle while driving at speeds in excess of 100 mph.
The consultant claimed Miccarelli came to her home and forced her to have sex after she ended the relationship in 2014. She also said that she believes Miccarelli drugged her at one point while they were still in a relationship and engaged in “non-consensual sexual behavior” while she was unconscious.
Miccarelli has vigorously denied the allegations, but House investigators have found the women’s claims credible in a report and Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo is currently investigating.
Newly released redacted portions of the House report indicate that Miccarelli also may have violated
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