By way of introduction, Fred Ferrell is Missouri's Agriculture Director.
Matt Blunt is Missouri's boy governor; son of Minorty Whip and MO-7 rep, Roy Blunt, sibling to lobbyists Amy and Andy Blunt, and stepson of Philip Morris lobbyist, Abigail Perlman. I think it's important to illustrate that Matt Blunt knows his ways around the political system.
Sarah Steelman is Missouri's State Treasurer. Her husband, David, is a former state rep and is the son of a former state Republican party chairman. She, also, would seemingly know her way around the political system. She just dropped a bomb on Matt Blunt.
THE SCANDAL: Fred Ferrell is a pig, a fitting metaphor for the Agriculture Director, perhaps, but alas, not apropos in the modern workplace. An investigation (ordered by Blunt, illegally it would seem, but more on that later) found that Fred Ferrell routinely hugged and kissed female members of his staff, suggested that he would like to see a "wet t-shirt contest" and "tight jeans day" in the office, and worse.
Heather Elder, a secretary in Ferrell's office, filed a complaint with Governor Blunt last spring.
Elder, 36, of Jefferson City, said Ferrell frequently hugged her, kissed her and called her his "beautiful girl" and his "princess." She contends she was denied a promotion because she is a woman.
Elder told investigators that Ferrell made demeaning remarks about women. According to Elder's testimony, Ferrell said his assistant, Christine Roark, "was not the brightest tool in the shed but that she was his 'show dog.'"
The patrol's report shows that six other women told investigators that they had either received frequent hugs from Ferrell or observed him hugging and kissing women in the office.
Oddly, at the time, Ferrell isssue a vague apology "to anyone I might have offended", which we now have learned was part of his slap on the wrist by Blunt. He was also put on 2-weeks paid leave (but allowed to keep his $90K+ salary), ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and take some sensitivity training. End of story? Not quite.
On Monday, Fred Ferrell resigned. Why so long after the fact, over nine months after the investigation? Because Secretary of State Sarah Steelman "accused [the Blunt administration] of attempting a secret payoff to Fred Ferrell's sexual harassment victim and falsely certifying the payoff to her office."
Whoa.
THE PAYOFF:
Steelman, a Republican, said she stopped payment Tuesday on a $70,000 check authorized by the state Agriculture Department on Feb. 5 as a proposed settlement of a sexual harassment complaint against Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell.
The check came out of the department’s equipment and expense budget from an account labeled "federal and other agriculture funds," Steelman’s office said. The Office of Administration allows the Agriculture Department to certify that its payments are proper without any oversight. The procedure raises troubling questions about the handling of state funds, Steelman said.
"This system, in this case, has allowed the director of a department accused of sexual harassment to authorize payment of tax dollars to the victim in a secret agreement with no transparency to the taxpayers," Steelman said in a written statement. "That is just wrong."
Sarah Steelman
THE COVERUP:
I really cannot explain it any better than what Cole has posted on the FiredUp! Missouri blog:
Missouri State Law requires the Commissioner of Administration to certify that every expenditure of state government is "within the purpose of [an] appropriation...." This certification is made to the State Treasurer who then cuts a check.
However, if the Commissioner of Administration "knowingly certifies any claims or accounts for payment, not authorized by law, he shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for [two to five] years...."
Given the facts uncovered so far, can there be any doubt that Blunt and/or his staff oversaw every detail of the secret payoff and its mechanics. It now seems likely that they leaned on the seriously ill Commissioner of Administration, Mike Keathley, to certify the payment, thus making themselves criminally responsible for the false certification.
Now get this. Here's how some of this came to light. Heather Elder threatened to testify against a Republican-sponsored bill
...that would make it harder to win punitive damages in discrimination cases. An attorney who drew up the bill said it was designed to help school districts, which have been hit with huge damage awards.
Upon hearing that, the Department of Agriculture sued Heather Elder, saying she had breached the terms of the agreement. Elder claims she never signed the agreement or took the $70,000, so there was no agreement to breach.
Oh, and that illegal Highway Patrol-as-Blunt's-secret-police maneuver?
THE SECRET POLICE:
In July, Blunt's administration admitted it had broken state law by using the highway patrol to investigate the allegations because state law generally limits the patrol to enforcing traffic laws and conducting criminal investigations.
The administration also declined to release the report because it was a personnel matter.
But a copy of the report was released Friday to The Associated Press. It shows that investigators from several state law enforcement agencies spoke with 15 current and former Agriculture Department employees.
So Matt Blunt was content to let the vile Fred Ferrell keep his job, illegally used the Highway Patrol as his secret police to investigate, misappropriated funds to use as hush money, and only forced Ferrell to resign (and why aren't these guys ever FIRED???) when Sarah Steelman exposed him.
Update [2007-2-28 9:34:14 by Glic]: Somehow, I neglected to include this egregious comment:
Both Brookshire and Engeman told investigators that at that meeting, Ferrell told them Elder would not be named the department's communications director. Brookshire said he told Ferrell he was planning on promoting her then within his division, and Ferrell said "you don't want women supervising men."
Jaysus.