Pennsylvania House speaker Joanna McClinton responds to harassment allegations against fellow Democr
Democratic House Speaker Joanna McClinton is responding to sexual harassment allegations lodged against a lawmaker of her own party.
At least three people have accused state Rep. Mike Zabel (D-Delaware) of harassing them. Lobbyist Andi Perez told a House panel in January that an unnamed lawmaker groped her while discussing a bill at the state Capitol. Perez later identified that lawmaker as Zabel.
A state lawmaker told news and editorial site Broad & Liberty that Zabel sexually propositioned her and followed her to her car. A third person, Colleen Kennedy, said Zabel harassed them and created a toxic work environment while they were working as his campaign manager.
“That is something that is sensitive,” McClinton said in an interview with WITF’s The Spark Monday. “Me and my leadership team do not take these allegations lightly,” adding an internal ethics body is empowered to look into the allegations under newly-approved House rules.
“Now that we actually have a process [for examining allegations against lawmakers], I want to make sure that that process has time to play out,” McClinton added.
Perez and Kennedy have called on Zabel to resign, but McClinton and House Democrats have so far stopped short of doing so.
https://www.witf.org/2023/03/06/pennsylvania-house-speaker-joanna-mcclinton-responds-to-harassment-allegations-against-fellow-democrat-mike-zabel/
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