Some Republican lawmakers say they are being kept in the dark by the GOP’s leadership, which is led by Sen. Bill Dix of Shell Rock.
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, facing serious questions and some criticism within his own caucus, switched gears Tuesday on his plans to address sexual harassment complaints, saying he will first hire a consultant for advice rather than immediately hiring a legislative human resources director.
The change in direction comes after Senate Republican staffers told the Associated Press last week that an investigation into sexual harassment claims in the caucus was complete, and they would be hiring a human resources manager. The investigation was in response to a $1.75 million lawsuit settlement with former Senate GOP Communications Director Kirsten Anderson, who was fired in May 2013, hours after lodging complaints about a toxic workplace fraught with harassment.
Dix, R-Shell Rock, said he intends to hire an outside consultant to recommend how to proceed in addressing human resources issues and sexual harassment complaints. That could result in the Senate going ahead and hiring a human resources director, or it could lead to another approach, he said. He offered no timeline for when any decisions will be made, or what consultant will be hired.
“We are asking the best way to address this,” Dix said.
Dix said Tuesday that Secretary of the Senate Charles Smithson conducted the investigation, and found no additional evidence of sexual harassment within the caucus. He also said the attorney general’s office has reviewed workplace policies in the Iowa Senate and has expressed approval of them.
“We are trying. We really are. We care,” Dix said.
Dix said he was changing his plans in response to concerns raised by a Republican staffer. Dix was apparently referring to a lengthy memo, obtained by the Des Moines Register, that was emailed to Republican Senate members Monday by Tom Ashworth, a senior research analyst with the Senate Republican Research staff.
Ashworth, a lawyer, listed several questions he had about the position, including the independence of a human resources director employed by the Senate and whether legislators could be compelled to cooperate in investigations of sexual harassment.
Questions were raised within the caucus over Dix’s handling of the issues in the wake of Anderson’s lawsuit.
Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, an assistant majority leader, sent an email Monday to his Senate Republican colleagues saying he was “tired of being kept in the dark” and that the first he’d heard of new procedures for handling sexual harassment complaints was through the news media.
“I am an assistant leader; since the last day of session, we have had only one 20-minute assistant leaders meeting, which was just before our last caucus,” Feenstra wrote in the email obtained by the Register. “I have had no phone calls or e-mails concerning any plans that are occurring or have occurred in the Republican Senate.”
Feenstra added, “I put my name on the ballot and won, No one else should be making decisions on behalf of the Senate except those that have taken the risk and won the seat of Senator. I represent 60,000 people, and frankly the entire State, This means I, along with the other Senators, are responsible for what goes on. It’s time we all get updated on where we are at.”
Feenstra declined to comment Tuesday when reached by the Register, saying he hadn’t intended for his email to become public.
Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, who called for Dix’s resignation after a Polk County jury issued a verdict in July supporting Anderson, said Tuesday he hadn’t seen any details about the Senate’s investigation of Anderson’s case, nor had he been consulted about plans to hire a human resources director for the Legislature. He said it appears all decisions regarding the handling of sexual harassment issues are being addressed solely by Dix and his top aide, Ed Failor Jr.
“Clearly, whatever is there they don’t want out,” Bertrand said in an interview. “I can tell you on the record that I am very disappointed with the Senate’s leadership; they have kind of taken the tactic of just silence and that this will go away. That is the strategy. I am disappointed that they haven’t shared any of the protocols that are supposedly being put in place. I don’t feel that any significant changes have been made.”
But Dix disputed allegations that Senate Republicans have been kept out of the loop on his response to the sexual harassment issues. He said he addressed the issues at length in August during a Senate GOP Caucus meeting, and he’s talked with individual Republican legislators on other occasions.
“The caucus expects me, as the leader, to put the details in place” to address issues involving sexual harassment, Dix said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, urged Dix on Tuesday to release the findings of the Senate investigation. But the Senate leader continued to refuse to do so, saying the employees involved had expectations of confidentiality.
After being pressed Tuesday by reporters, Dix continued to insist that Anderson was terminated from the Senate staff for long-term work performance reasons that were well documented. However, he said he believes everyone who testified was truthful during the trial of Anderson’s lawsuit.
In handing down the verdict favoring Anderson, jurors ruled that the Senate Republican Caucus and the state violated Iowa laws preventing workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation in dealing with the complaints Anderson brought forward.
Anderson’s supervisors and Senate GOP leaders contended at trial that Anderson was fired because of concerns about her writing and other job-related problems. But Anderson and her colleagues described for jurors an atmosphere in which jokes about sex and degrading comments about women were tolerated.
Much of the testimony during the trial focused on the behavior of Jim Friedrich, a former policy analyst who resigned from the Republican staff in September. Anderson testified that, amid his divorce in 2010, Friedrich would regularly use the “c-word” when talking about women and make racial jokes.
Anderson also testified about behavior from former state Sen.
