Kirby should be expelled, special panel says
The state House could vote as early as Tuesday on whether to expel a representative for the first time in Oklahoma history.
Rep. Dan Kirby, R-Tulsa, is facing possible expulsion for accepting and, at times, asking legislative assistant Carol Johnson for topless photos and for once taking her to a strip club.
At least one of the photos was taken inside his House office, an investigation found.
A special House committee on Thursday recommended that Kirby be expelled for “completely inappropriate” and “disorderly” behavior that impaired public confidence in the Legislature.
“This has not been an easy process. It has not been a joyous occasion to look into some of the things that we’ve had to look into,” the committee chairman, Josh Cockroft, R-Wanette, told reporters Thursday.
Kirby, 58, did not say Thursday whether he would fight expulsion or resign. He said he needed to review the committee report before making a complete public statement.
“I am very disheartened and disappointed by the recommendations,” said Kirby, who admitted during the investigation that he asked Johnson for nude photos and invited her to a strip club.
“I do feel that the committee’s recommendations are far more severe than necessary,” Kirby said.
Johnson said on Facebook Thursday she would not comment at this time but was thankful for the support.
Johnson, 37, of Norman, was Kirby’s assistant in the 2012, 2013 and 2016 legislative sessions. She was reassigned last September to another legislator after making a complaint against Kirby. She no longer works at the Capitol.
Johnson told the committee Kirby would use code words like “motivation” in text and Facebook messages to request nude photos from her, according to the committee’s report.
The special committee recommended a second legislator, Rep. Will Fourkiller, D-Stilwell, be banned from the House high school page program for a year. The committee said he also should be required to attend a oneon-one workplace conduct training course.
Fourkiller, 44, did not have any immediate response to those recommendations. He refused to testify before the committee, saying its closeddoor hearings were unfair.
The committee reported a female high school page made a complaint against Fourkiller in 2015 about comments made to her. The committee reported the girl said at the time “she was made to feel uncomfortable.” The committee described the statements as unprofessional and inappropriate, if true.
The committee reported Fourkiller at the time “did not admit nor deny that the comments were made.” It noted no similar issues involving Fourkiller have been reported since then.
It would take 68 votes — two-thirds of the House — to remove Kirby.
Rep. Jon Echols, the House majority floor leader, said he would schedule the expulsion motion for next week but not for Monday because Gov. Mary Fallin is making her annual State of the State speech to the Legislature that day.
Even if Kirby isn’t expelled, he faces severe restrictions. The special committee recommended House Speaker Charles McCall keep Kirby off every committee, assign his bills to someone else and bar him from having a legislative assistant.
The speaker could bar Fourkiller from the House page program himself or have a House vote on the recommendations.
The special committee was formed after
reported the House had paid another former Kirby assistant and her attorneys $44,500 in November to settle a wrongful termination claim.
That assistant, Hollie Anne Bishop, 28, worked for Kirby in 2015. She complained to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the House fired her in retaliation for reporting Kirby sexually harassed her.
House
Speaker
Jeff Hickman signed the settlement agreement on Nov. 16 shortly before leaving office, the committee reported.
The committee found that Hickman had the authority under the state Constitution to make the settlement himself and to do it with public funds. The committee said Hickman was not required to seek approval of other House members. Most, including Kirby, said later they had not known about the settlement.
The committee recommended that the new speaker, McCall, establish a written procedure for the authorization of any legal settlement more than $15,000.
Because of that recommendation, McCall already has created a bipartisan ad hoc committee to review and approve “all large capital and/or extraordinary expenditures that exceed $15,000.”
The committee reported it based its recommendations about Kirby only on Johnson’s complaint.
The other assistant, Bishop, did not testify before the committee and her wrongful termination claim was settled “with no party admitting fault.” Cockroft said, “Ultimately, based on what we saw, we were not able to determine whether Rep. Kirby acted inappropriately in that matter.”
Kirby testified before the committee for three hours and 30 minutes Jan. 24.
Cockroft said, “Rep. Kirby tried to excuse his actions by saying his close personal relationship with Miss Johnson justified his behavior. Further, Rep. Kirby attempted to justify his actions by stating that the events occurred after business hours or while out of session.”
The committee rejected Kirby’s excuses, Cockroft said.
Johnson has said she did not have a personal relationship with Kirby. Her attorneys said she spoke to the committee in hopes no one else at the Capitol experiences the same treatment and to encourage others to come forward.