Progressive Rep. Aftyn Behn and conservative Rep. Todd Warner say “transparency” will improve when legislature doesn’t oversee members’ cases.
Photo: Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, and Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, are teaming up on a measure to increase transparency related to legislative sexual harassment investigations. Photo Credit: John Partipilo
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
An unlikely House Democrat and Republican combo is joining efforts to move sexual harassment cases from control of the Legislature through a third-party liaison to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, and Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, announced in a joint press conference Monday they are sponsoring House Bill 2533, to “increase transparency” in House investigations involving accusations of the state’s workplace harassment and discrimination guidelines.
Their bill faces immediate difficulty because it will have an amendment filed after a House deadline when it is heard in a committee Tuesday.
A pattern? Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, says the Legislature has had at least one workplace harassment case each year for the last decade.
Behn and Warner, though, contend their bill will “put victims first” and give the accused a fair hearing while shifting cases from “unbiased hands” and getting “rid of the politics.” The bill would create a “liaison” position to conduct probes and serve as go-between for the Legislature — where the director of Legislative Administration has been handling investigations — and the Attorney General’s Office.
Warner pointed out the Legislature has had at least one workplace harassment case each year for the past decade. He noted creating the liaison would “stop all the speculation behind the scenes.” The measure would send complaints filed in the Senate, House and elsewhere to the new office.
Said Behn, “We know, especially on the House side, it isn’t a transparent process right now.”
Behn, a liberal Democrat from East Nashville, and Warner, a conservative Republican from southern Middle Tennessee who voted against the House private-school voucher bill, said they came up with the idea after working on a podcast together.
The measure, however, doesn’t require the state to disclose any expenses attached to a harassment investigation. They said they would broach that idea with Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who they said has expressed interest in taking over the job. The office would be required to keep the documents for 10 years.
The duo also was unclear on how investigations and outcomes would be any more public than they are under House rules, which close almost all information to the public.
The investigation process linked to the resignation of former Rep. Scotty Campbell came under criticism in 2023 after reports showed the state spent hundreds of dollars to move an intern allegedly harassed by Campbell.
The former Mountain City lawmaker filed a public records lawsuit in February against the state saying he was forced out because of the workplace harassment complaint by House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison. Campbell’s lawsuit also claims Faison was believed to be conspiring with others to keep the media from finding out a similar complaint had been filed against him.
Campbell, who maintains he had consensual conversations with two women after work, claims he tried to defend himself by showing text messages to Connie Ridley, director of Legislative Administration, but she refused to discuss the matter. The former lawmaker claims public documents, if revealed, will help him prove his innocence.
A Workplace Discrimination & Harassment Subcommittee determined Campbell violated state policy, doing their work in secret and refusing to comment on their deliberation.
Campbell resigned April 20, 2023 and vacated the Capitol complex about two hours after telling the Lookout he would not step away from the Legislature.
State documents in a separate open records lawsuit dealing with Campbell’s case contained notes dealing with an alleged victim complaint against Faison, according to a court ruling.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton has said publicly no complaint was filed against Faison, a Cosby Republican who has declined to comment on the matter.
Campbell, in his public records filing, “categorically denies that he violated” the state’s harassment policy.
The Attorney General’s Office has a history of investigating sexual harassment complaints, putting together the probe of former Rep. Jeremy Durham, who was ousted in 2016 for inappropriate conduct with 22 women working in the Legislature. That report was criticized because Capitol insiders could easily identify the victims.
About the Author: Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state’s best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. He has led the Capitol Hill bureau for The Daily Memphian. His awards include Best Single Editorial from the Tennessee Press Association. Follow Stockard on Twitter @StockardSam