Overhaul urged for probes at Capitol
SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers would no longer handle sexual harassment investigations of other legislators or their staffers under a proposed policy change announced Friday in response to allegations of widespread misconduct in the Capitol that surfaced over the past year.
Under the changes, people making accusations against lawmakers or their employees would no longer go first to a committee made up of legislators. Instead, they would go to a newly created independent unit in a legislative legal bureau, which would gather evidence and submit it to a threemember panel of outside experts who handle job-bias complaints.
The idea is to change a system that appears to some alleged harassment victims as one in which legislators investigate, judge and, too often, protect their own. The proposal
would leave the current system for punishment intact; however, lawmakers would still decide whether to discipline legislators and staffers who are found to have committed sex harassment or discrimination.
The recommendations were released Friday by the Joint Committee on Rules Subcommittee on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response, which was convened to consider how to overhaul the Legislature’s procedures for handling complaints. The plan will be heard in the committee Monday and is on track to win final approval by June 25. It does not need approval from the full Assembly, state Senate or the governor.
“Last year, this Legislature was forced to confront the hard, historic truth of an institutional failure to fully protect our employees and prevent the sexual harassment of those who work in and around the Capitol,” said Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. “This failure was not limited to one person, party or legislative house — it was systemic. And it demands solutions that are comprehensive, independent, transparent and bicameral.”
Atkins said the policy unveiled Friday shows both legislative houses “have risen to this crucial challenge.”
The self-examination came in the midst of the #MeToo movement after hundreds of women in and around the Capitol signed an open letter in October declaring that sexual harassment had been pervasive in Sacramento politics for decades and remained a crippling issue in the workplace. Many women said they didn’t complain because it was commonly understood nothing would come of it.
In the months that followed, three lawmakers — Sen. Tony Mendoza, DArtesia (Los Angeles County), and Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra, D-San Fernando Valley, and Matthew Dababneh, D-Encino (Los Angeles County) — resigned amid sexual harassment and misconduct complaints.
Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, was ordered to stop hugging co-workers after an investigation found several instances of unwanted hugging and touching.
Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County), is facing a new investigation related to allegations she groped a legislative employee four years ago. Garcia took an unpaid leave earlier this year during an investigation into groping and workplace misconduct allegations. An investigation cleared Garcia of the groping claim, but found she had used offensive language and disparaged other elected officials in front of staffers.
Garcia’s office confirmed Wednesday that the Assembly had reopened the investigation after the man who accused her of groping him appealed the findings.
WeSaidEnough, the group that formed last year in response to widespread allegations in Sacramento, issued a statement Friday saying its members appreciate the “thoughtful work” of the joint committee that drew up the proposal. A representative declined to speak further about the recommendations.
One major change concerns how complaints would be lodged. Instead of victims having to file a complaint with the rules committee in the Senate or Assembly, which is made up of lawmakers, the complaint would go to a newly created independent unit staffed within the Legislative Counsel Bureau, which consists of attorneys for the Legislature.
As is the case now, the most serious complaints could be handed off to outside investigators.
Alleged victims would be allowed to file complaints anonymously. The Legislature will consider creating an app for submitting those complaints.
The evidence collected by investigators would be submitted to a threemember panel of outside experts with experience handling employment and discrimination complaints. That panel would determine whether the claims are substantiated and discuss its findings with the alleged harasser’s supervisor or, in the case of a legislator, the Assembly speaker or Senate president pro tem.
After that meeting, the panel would make disciplinary recommendations to the Assembly or Senate.
Ultimately, leaders in the Assembly and Senate would make a final determination on punishment. If their decision is different from the panel’s, the reason would have to be documented, although not made public.
The Legislature would release complaints and findings in cases where the allegations are substantiated against a lawmaker or high-level staff, as has been its practice over the past six months.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), said the proposed policy is a “vital next step” toward changing the Capitol culture.
“As these recommendations are reviewed and finalized, the leadership of the Assembly will work with the Capitol community to make sure everyone is behind the change that absolutely needs to happen,” Rendon said.