Excerpt from an article at the Hill, it covers more than this one:
“Under the current system created by a 1995 law, staffers must go through months of mediation and counseling before they can formally file a complaint. The bill passed on Tuesday would ensure the mediation and counseling are no longer mandatory, as well as provide staffers with access to an advocate providing legal advice and representation.
Members of Congress accused of sexual harassment would be personally on the hook for any settlement payments. Any lawmaker who agrees to a settlement would have to reimburse taxpayers within 90 days and would be barred from using any office funds to pay the costs.
The Office of Compliance, which handles the workplace dispute reporting process, would be required to publish reports online every six months detailing the settlement amounts and the employing offices involved.
“Taxpayers should not bail members of Congress out for misconduct,” said Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who had introduced a bill last year that would ban taxpayer-funded settlements for harassment cases against lawmakers.
According to statistics released by the House Administration Committee, close to $200,000 has been provided by a special fund operated by the Treasury Department in the last two decades to cover settlements related to sexual harassment.
Yet those funds do not count settlements paid out by lawmakers’ personal offices, which would no longer be allowed under the legislation. Reports by BuzzFeed and The New York Times found that at least two members of Congress agreed to settle complaints of sexual harassment from former aides that were paid from their taxpayer-funded office budgets.
Former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) resigned last year after BuzzFeed reported that a female former aide who accused him of sexual harassment received about $27,000 in installments from his office budget.”
Thanks for that response. Appreciate it.