Gillibrand defends handling of harassment complaints

[DonViejo]

'This employee was dearly valued. I told her she that she was loved, by us, by our office, by me personally.'

By ELENA SCHNEIDER 03/18/2019 10:34 PM EDT

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand defended her office’s handling of sexual harassment claims on Monday night, saying that an aide was “believed” and that her complaints were “fully investigated.”

The New York Democrat, an advocate of the #MeToo movement who is running for president, said during an MSNBC town hall that the Senate staffer’s allegations “did not rise to sexual harassment, but we did find evidence of derogatory comments,” adding that her senior aide Abbas Malik, who allegedly made unwanted sexual advances, “was punished.”

Earlier this month, POLITICO first reported on the former Gillibrand staffer’s decision to resign in protest over the office’s handling of her sexual harassment claims last summer. However, when presented with reporting of additional allegations of workplace misconduct by Malik, Gillibrand’s office opened a new investigation into the aide and dismissed him in early March.

“In terms of my own office, the woman who came forward, she was believed, her allegations were taken seriously,” Gillibrand said during the town hall. “This employee was dearly valued. I told her she that she was loved, by us, by our office, by me personally.”

Gillibrand also pushed back on criticism that she was too quick to demand the resignation of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) in 2017, after eight women accused him of sexual harassment. Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call on Franken to resign, and she was soon joined by two dozen other senators from the party.

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/18/kirsten-gillibrand-sexual-harassment-1226466

[stonecutter357]

1. Al Franken 2020 !