Your Tax Dollars Pay Sexual Harassment Claims?

The following letter is what I sent to my state Senators and Congressman:

I am writing out of outrage to have learned that you, your Congressional colleagues and senior staffers, have been granted immunity by legislation passed in 1995 for having to pay any settlement costs out your own pocket for sexual harassment allegations by others working for, or under you. But the even more egregious revelation is that my tax dollars are being used to make settlement payments from a special fund in the Treasury Dept! And you wonder why your popularity rating is so low! News has divulged that over 350 claims have been paid totaling $15.2 million.

What's even more disturbing is the rules require the accuser to go through a period of mediation and counseling before the claim can be adjudicated. It should be the harasser, not the victim, who should be required to go through this process! It should be the guilty Congressman, or senior staffer, who should pay for their inappropriate action.

Tonight, I watched a female testify on television who had gone to work in Congress on a Fellows program about her experience of resisting a Congressman's suggestive advances. After changing offices, she was not only terminated, but was "blackballed" from any future employment because she refused to submit to his advances. This only deters many who are subjected to such treatment to remain silent, or comply. This abuse of power is not right!

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York has the solution, though! She's going to have all Congresspersons take sexual harassment sensitivity training. How typical! Oh, this will certainly deter members of Congress from using their positions of power to leave interns and young workers alone. It does NOTHING to hold members of Congress and senior staff accountable!

I want to know what you are doing, or intend to do, to change this situation which is totally unacceptable. You need to remember that you are there to work for us, not we work for you so that you can claim immunity from the consequences of inappropriate actions.

I look forward to hearing what you intend to do to rectify this injustice. If I don't, then I will be forced to conclude that you're just as guilty as those who engage in such abuse. This must stop!