A Missouri House panel has dismissed a sexual harassment complaint against a state lawmaker after an investigation that spanned several months.
Minutes of the Missouri House Ethics Committee obtained by The Associated Press through an open-records request show the complaint was dismissed last week but do not identify the accused lawmaker nor describe the allegations.
Under House rules, sexual harassment complaints are confidential and must be investigated by outside legal counsel. The ethics panel has the discretion to file a public report, but chose not to do so.
Committee Chair J. Eggleston said ethics reports typically identify the accused or describe the allegations in such as way that people could figure out identities.
“This is people’s reputations, their political careers, their lives, so you want to be very respectful of that and only issue a report if it’s somehow helpful in reaching the appropriate conclusion,” Eggleston said.
Documents provided to the AP show the St. Louis law firm of McMahon Berger completed an investigation into the complaint in December and turned the information over to the House Ethics Committee. But in January, the committee voted to ask the independent investigator to again contact the person making the allegation as well as the accused.
A law firm invoice dated Feb. 27 indicates investigators had difficulties locating or obtaining a statement from at least one person and received instructions to complete the report without further contact efforts.
Most legislative work was suspended from mid-March until late April as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus. When the House Ethics Committee met April 29, the complaint was dismissed by a 9-0 vote.
“We dug into it pretty good, turned over every stone there was to investigate under and came to the conclusion that as filed, and as given to us, it was without merit,” Eggleston said. “The member did nothing wrong or was not deserving of any punishment.”
Documents provided to the AP show McMahon Berger billed the House more than $7,500 for the investigation of the complaint.
House Ethics Committee minutes show that another complaint is pending before the panel. The identity of that accused lawmaker also remains confidential.
Nationwide, more than 100 state legislators have been publicly accused of sexual harassment or misconduct since the start of 2017, according to an AP tally.
Last year, Democratic Rep. DaRon McGee, of Kansas City, resigned after an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint found he engaged in “ethical misconduct” by sending flirtatious text messages and repeatedly pursuing a relationship with a legislative employee whom he supervised
The House Ethics Committee last year also found that Republican state Rep. Rocky Miller, of Lake Ozark, had engaged in “unbecoming” conduct by creating a false rumor that another lawmaker was having an affair with a House employee. An outside investigation concluded that Miller’s actions weren’t severe enough to qualify as sexual harassment under federal or state law but may have violated the House’s sexual harassment policy. The ethics panel did not recommend any action against Miller.
