Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva paid nearly $50,000 in 2015 to silence an employee complaint that was reportedly non-sexual in nature. After a female staffer accused Rep. Grijalva of getting drunk and creating a hostile work environment, the House Employment Counsel negotiated a "severance package," writes the Washington Times.
The employment counsel negotiated a deal for taxpayers to give $48,395 — five additional months’ salary — to the female aide, who left her job after three months. She didn’t pursue the hostile workplace complaint further.
The arrangement appears to run contrary to House rules that constrain severance packages, and it caught the eye of watchdogs who were already demanding answers about payouts in the wake of harassment complaints.
“It seems like all of these House bodies are designed to help cover for members of Congress,” said Melanie Sloan, an ethics lawyer in Washington. “A large part of the problem is that each member of Congress can treat their staff as their own fiefdom and also know that it will remain silent.”
Grijalva did not deny the report and pointed out that the complaint never actually reached the Office of Compliance, which has taken heat in recent weeks for using some $17 million in taxpayer funding to settle sexual harassment claims against Congress members.
“On the advice of House Employment Counsel, I provided a severance package to a former employee who resigned. The severance did not involve the Office of Compliance and at no time was any allegation of sexual harassment made, and no sexual harassment occurred,” Mr. Grijalva said in an email to The Washington Times.
One way or the other, we clearly need a lot more transparency about what taxpayer dollars are being used for and when Congress members are exhibiting a pattern of mistreating their employees.