Legislature releases documents about harassment claims, stirring criticism

SACRAMENTO — The state Legislature released more than 100 pages detailing sexual harassment allegations and investigations on Friday afternoon, implicating four sitting legislators: state Senators Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, as well as Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, and Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Inglewood.

The three men have denied any wrongdoing. The documents also detailed complaints about former legislators, as well as staff members, several of whom were fired. The documents cover 12 years, from 2006 through 2017.

#WeSaidEnough, the organization that kicked off a media storm of coverage of harassment in the state Capitol, quickly condemned the release as inadequate. The organization was founded after more than 140 women signed a letter in September detailing their experiences.

“This release presented an opportunity towards re-gaining the trust of the public and of those who work in the Capitol community,” members of the group said in an official statement. “However, this effort falls dramatically short of a comprehensive or transparent release of information. The selective release of data related only to certain individuals serves only to further erode the trust that so many victims and survivors hope to rebuild.”

The California Legislative Women’s Caucus also said the documents were not comprehensive enough.

Two of the accused legislators also criticized the release of the documents, many containing unproven allegations.

Hertzberg said the references to him were handwritten notes, not official documents.

A GOP candidate for governor and the author of a stalled initiative to overturn the gas tax the Legislature passed last year, Allen criticized the document release for a different reason. “The release of this unsubstantiated complaint is a political attack by a Democrat-led committee,” Allen said in a statement, adding, “but there has never been anything in any of my actions that has been inappropriate, and nor will there ever be.”

Employment law attorney Micha Star Liberty, who is representing one of the #WeSaidEnough letter signers in a wrongful termination claim, echoed these thoughts.

“What speaks the loudest in these documents is what’s missing from them, frankly: complaints we know were also made that weren’t documented,” said the principal in Liberty Law Office in Oakland. “The problem with releasing documents they are styling as substantiated claims means they are not releasing any other document that could be relevant.”

Liberty added that she is less focused on any particular incident than how human resources officials and managers handle harassment claims. She also noted that despite the many redactions, some of them covering entire pages, the documents name several staffers who have already been terminated.

“It appears the institution, rather than focusing on education and training, could potentially be scapegoating staff,” Liberty said.

The names of alleged victims were redacted. This addressed a key complaint made by members of #WeSaidEnough after the Legislature included the names of several alleged victims in earlier document releases.

The documents also cover a wide variety of alleged behavior. The one female legislator named, Assemblywoman Burke, was admonished by the Assembly Rules Committee for participating in a sexually explicit conversation with staff. The matter was then closed.

The released information also documented complaints against Mendoza going back to his time in the Assembly. He is currently on an extended leave while the Senate investigates claims he sexually harassed young female staffers.

Allen was warned after two women complained in 2013 that he had made them feel “uncomfortable” with inappropriate touching, according to the document release.

The complaint against Hertzberg claimed he had inappropriately hugged a female staffer during a conversation about paint color in 2015. A spokesperson for Hertzberg said the staffer, who did not work for him, was related to a friend of the state senator.

“This instance, a settled matter from several years ago, involves a single occurrence with a family member of someone I knew, and I’m sorry to her and anyone else who may have ever felt my hugs unwelcome,” Hertzberg said in a written statement.

In December, Republican former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman went public with her claims that Hertzberg hugged her inappropriately on multiple occasions in 2011. These claims were later trumpeted by some in the bail bonds industry, which opposes a Hertzberg bill that would abolish the current cash bail system in California.

Hertzberg also criticized the “integrity and timeliness” of the records released about him, which were mostly handwritten. This portion was accompanied by a typed note of explanation dated Feb. 2, the same day the documents were released, which Hertzberg implied was not part of any previously existing official record.

On Thursday, the Senate passed AB 403, the Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, by a 38-0 vote. Versions of this same bill by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, had died in the Senate in 2014, 2015 and 2016.