Gov. Reynolds: Zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment ‘seems pretty self-explanatory’

DES MOINES — Majority GOP senators in the Iowa Senate are taking positive steps to address their workplace culture over sexual harassment concerns, Gov. Kim Reynold said Monday, but she said she was troubled by a report indicating confusion over the chamber's 'zero tolerance' policy.

'It seems pretty self-explanatory that zero tolerance is zero tolerance,' the Republican governor told reporters.

She said the confusion, mentioned in a report released Friday about an internal Senate review of sexual harassment, signals that better training is needed to make certain that senators, their staff and clerks know what constitutes acceptable conduct in the chamber.

The investigation was conducted after a jury this summer found in favor of former GOP Senate caucus staff member Kirsten Anderson, who asserted she was fired in 2013 after complaining of sexual harassment. Her case resulted in a $1.75 million settlement paid by taxpayers.

A records of the review, released Friday with the names of individuals redacted, said investigators heard several reports of sexually suggestive comments by Republican caucus staff members and senators, but found no 'provable' incidents in the Senate.

Monday, Reynolds said the Senate's Republican leaders took a 'positive step' by bringing in as an unpaid adviser former Sen. Mary Kramer, who worked as a corporate human resources director.

After reading the internal review, the governor said 'evidently it's important that we're all clear and we all have an understanding of what is expected and what will not be tolerated and so, just from that perspective alone, I think it's really important that we take a look at making sure we're providing the right training and that people understand what the expectations are.'

Reynolds said everybody has a responsibility to speak up when inappropriate comments are made to say, ''We're not going to put up with this,' and if we start to hear anything happening, to call them out and say: 'No. That's not acceptable. That's not acceptable behavior. The culture is going to change,'' Reynolds said.

During Anderson's trial, GOP Senate staff members testified to ongoing sexual harassment, which led to the internal inquiry of allegations from December 2012 to now. Current members of the staffs of the Republican Senate caucus and the Secretary of the Senate were interviewed between July 25 and Aug. 7.

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