OTHER VOICES

Retaliation lawsuit

A private business owned by Dels. Sid Saab, R-Crownsville, and Brian Chisholm, R-Severna Park, is facing a lawsuit from a former female employee, who names both men as having a role in her termination after she reported a male coworker for sexual harassment (The Capital, Feb. 27).

While it is a core belief of our party that all individuals are entitled to due process — and that all defendants remain innocent until proven guilty — we find the alleged actions to be appalling and disturbing. Though this lawsuit centers on the actions of the delegates as private business owners, we believe that as public servants — and elected representatives — Saab and Chisholm have a duty to respect and uphold the law for every person who lives, works and does business in this county.

Though the alleged incidents do not involve Saab or Chisholm personally, it is their responsibility as businessmen to create and enforce a professional and safe working environment, especially for working mothers.

The alleged attempts to silence and terminate a female employee who felt physically threatened and unsafe — in the workplace they manage — follows a disturbing societal and cultural trend, which seeks to place blame upon female victims while also placing additional burdens on working-class women from a financial and legal standpoint.

We are also concerned that Saab and Chisholm hired another state lawmaker, Jason C. Buckle, R-Alleghany, to defend them in this lawsuit. We call upon Mr. Buckle to recuse himself from representing Saab and Chisholm in this particular case from an ethical and optical standpoint. His involvement gives the impression that three high-ranking male politicians, who hold state office, have formed an alliance to use their status and privilege to silence the allegations of trauma and harm suffered by a working-class mother.

Pam Smelser, Pasadena President, District 31 Democratic Club Alexandra Matiella Novak, Odenton President, District 33 Democratic Club