Rosenthal faces new claims

Policy aide reported concerns about harassment from the state lawmaker.

Eight months ago, toward the end of the legislative session, a Democratic policy aide reported concerns about harassment from Colorado state Rep. Paul Rosenthal to the House speaker’s office.

The issue never rose to a formal complaint, but the Denver Democratic lawmaker later apologized and received materials counseling him about the General Assembly’s workplace harassment policy.

The new details, described in interviews and confirmed by another Democratic lawmaker, raise more questions about Rosenthal’s behavior amid a legislative investigation of a separate incident, one in which he allegedly groped and made unwanted advances toward another gay man at a 2012 political event when he was a candidate.

Rosenthal, 49, has denied the allegations made by Thomas Cavaness, a 29-year-old former Texas Army National Guard member and political campaign staffer. The Denver Post reported that Cavaness filed the formal complaint against Rosenthal on Tuesday and confirmed his account with two separate associates.

Rosenthal is one of four Colorado lawmakers facing accusations of sexual harassment. The thirdterm lawmaker sidestepped a question this week about the latest incident, regarding the informal complaint from the 2017 session. His attorney, Harvey Steinberg, declined to comment Friday.

Heather O’Donnell, an attorney and former legislative policy aide, recounted what led to the informal complaint in a series of recent interviews with The Post. She said Rosenthal approached her in a room next to the House floor in early April to inquire about her 25-year-old brother, whom he met days earlier at the Capitol.

Rosenthal asked O’Donnell if her brother was gay and single, calling him attractive and saying he wanted to meet him again. She deflected the questions. Rosenthal, a teacher, told her that he may be able to help her brother professionally — even though her brother, an electrical engineer, earlier told the lawmaker that he wasn’t interested in politics.

“This was not subtle,” O’Donnell said in an interview. “I was very uncomfortable.”

The pursuit continued into the next week, she said, when Rosenthal’s office tried to call O’Donnell and later tracked her down in a Senate committee meeting. Rosenthal’s legislative aide, acting on his behalf, asked again about arranging a meeting with her brother and again mentioned helping with his career.

O’Donnell called Rosenthal’s

behavior “predatory.”

“He’s using his position to reach out to men, to say he can help with a career,” she said. “It’s a very thinly veiled, inartful way to seek out his behaviors that are less than savory.”

O’Donnell reported her concerns to her boss, Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, on April 10. The lawmaker immediately took her to speak to House Speaker Crisanta Duran’s chief of staff, Kelly Watkins.

“Heather started telling me she was uncomfortable with something Rep. Rosenthal said to her brother,” said Kraft-Tharp, an Arvada Democrat. “I stopped her. It was not for me to resolve the situation. I said that we need to talk to leadership immediately.”

The speaker’s office gave O’Donnell options to proceed, but she declined.

“I was concerned about blowback … and feared retribution because of everything that happened,” she said.

In the end, O’Donnell was told Rosenthal received materials about the workplace and sexual harassment policy. Kraft-Tharp said she was told the situation was resolved, and O’Donnell felt comfortable with the outcome.

Rosenthal offered to apologize to her in person, but O’Donnell said she didn’t want to talk to him.

What made her come forward now is hearing other Colorado lawmakers, lobbyists and aides describe inappropriate behavior by legislators.

Cavaness’ complaint against Rosenthal further encouraged her to go public with her story.

“This is 2017, and he’s still doing this,” she said, referring to Rosenthal. “He’s not being subtle, and in my opinion, he’s not going to stop this behavior.”