State Senate urges victims to speak out
Women who signed letter on harassment are asked to help with independent inquiry.
SACRAMENTO — The state Senate is ramping up efforts to look into sexual harassment in politics by asking women who signed the open letter decrying the culture of the Capitol to speak with an independent investigator.
Secretary of the Senate Daniel Alvarez sent a letter Friday to women who signed the letter and were employed by the Senate within the last five years, urging them to voluntarily speak with Amy Oppenheimer, an employment attorney who specializes in workplace harassment investigations. Current and former staffers received the letter via email, several recipients told The Times.
When he announced the hiring of Oppenheimer in late October, Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said her firm would “request interviews with all relevant Senate staff and identify any actionable steps to properly address any and all allegations raised in this course of this investigation.”
In his letter, Alvarez said, “Thank you for coming forward and signing the We Said Enough letter. I admire the courage each of you has shown in bringing this serious issue to the forefront of what appears to be a national discussion.”
Alvarez also wrote that Oppenheimer will provide an “impartial fact finding report to the Senate on each complaint that comes to her.” He said women are welcome to bring their attorneys or others to accompany them to the meetings.
“The law and Senate policy prohibit retaliation against individuals who come forward with complaints,” Alvarez writes. “We understand that coming forward with complaints can be difficult, but we very much need your cooperation to confront these important issues.”