LA SEX HARRASSMENT BILL: Louisiana’s Legislative Auditor released a report earlier this week ….it was based on a survey of 30,000 state employees, and it revealed that nearly 80 percent of the respondents say they’ve experienced sexual harassment on the job, but never reported it. It also explained that $5 Million dollars has been spent on sexual harassment lawsuits by the state since 2009-- and that there were hundreds claims of sexual
harassment in state executive branches. Louisiana doesn’t have a standard one-size-fits-all sexual harassment policy. So just a day after the state auditor’s report, a Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee struck a compromise to advance a bill from Rep. Barbara Carpenter (D-Baton Rouge) that attempts to do just that. Sen. Sharon Hewitt (R-Slidell) shared her thoughts on the bill with public radio WRKF in Baton Rouge:
“We need policies in place where people feel comfortable reporting harassment, there’s a clear understanding of what is and isn’t harassment, and
they’re confident that we’re going to investigate and take action," Hewitt said. House Bill 524 specifically addresses establishing policies to prohibit sexual harassment and requires training and prevention measures. It has already been approved by the House of Representatives. House Bill 542 now advances to the Senate floor.
