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Carroll Resident Tells Legislators She Is Offended At Having To Foot Payment For Sexual Harassment

Carroll county constituents were given the chance to ask questions of their legislators, Senator Mark Segebart and House Representative, Brian Best, for the first time publicly in this 2018 Legislative Session. One of those was from Cleal (sic) Hudson, a Carroll resident who wanted to know whether or not the legislators supported bills that would require the damages for sexual harassment suits be levied directly against the offender. Best says that he is aware the bills are out there, but has not yet read them. We should be looking at what has been done in other states and what has worked for them he says, but he points out an issue with the idea.

Hudson says she is offended that taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for the actions of these people. Best says this is an unvetted process at this point as the issues are just now coming to the forefront. Time will be needed to explore the remedies. Segebart says there are two ways to cover the costs of a lawsuit, and this is through insurance or self-funding.

There is no insurance to cover the taxpayers in this type of situation, Segebart points out, and he apologized that this was even a topic that had to be addressed in the state of Iowa. In the end, he said, it wasn’t the sexual harassment that caused the recent lawsuit from a staffer. It was the fact that she was fired hours after reporting it. He adds that the responsibility for stopping harassment begins at home.

Moderator of the Carroll Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum last Saturday, John Brockelsby, called for an end to the discussion at that point and asked both legislators to read the bills. Last fall, Communications Director, Kirsten Anderson, settled for $1.75 million dollars after winning a lawsuit against Senate Republicans for wrongful termination and sexual harassment.

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