Briana Bierschbach has shared a series of tweets about the memo outlining the conclusions of an investigation into claims outlined in her report Allegations against Minnesota Rep. Rod Hamilton pose big test for new House sexual harassment policy
The memo appears to clear the veteran Republican Mountain Lake lawmaker. We've also seen the memo itself through a source
The authors of the memo, Minnesota House Research staffers Christina Parra and Ben Weeks, suggest a revisiting how the House harassment policy and the body's Code of Conduct mesh.
The memo notes that since the incident took place at Hamilton's apartment--away from the state house--and that it the investigation revealed it was murky as to whether that the parties were involved together in “legislative work," that it was unclear whether the House policy applied to the incident.
A discussion of the House policy and a survey about the broader problem of harassment at the Capitol was presented at the Task Force on Workplace Safety and Respect on November 30, 2018.
Most of the investigation report itself appears likely to remain private. The cost of the investigation to the incident was $38,128.50.
We'll post a copy of the memo when it becomes publicly available--as well as coverage and discussion of it and any parts of the report on the investigation that are made public.
Here's the beginning of Briana's tweet thread, which we had missed in the original draft of this post:
House Republicans release summary of investigation into Rep. Rod Hamilton, who was accused of making inappropriate advances on a young woman advocating at the Capitol. The alleged behavior happened away from the Capitol at his St. Paul apartment 1/3
— Briana Bierschbach (@bbierschbach) December 21, 2018
The incident and investigation
Within 24 hours of Minnesota lawmakers adopting major changes to the House’s internal sexual harassment policy, that new policy is facing a big test.
On Thursday afternoon, the Star Tribune reported that a 23-year-old woman filed a police report accusing Republican Rep. Rod Hamilton of sexual assault. According to a St. Paul Police spokesman, on April 13 Hamilton allegedly invited the woman back to his apartment near the Capitol during a snowstorm and “stroked her hair, traced her ear with his finger, kissed her cheek and held her hands and hugged her.” The woman first met Hamilton through her work advocating for sexual assault victims in Minnesota.
In a statement, Hamilton “categorically” denied the accusations of sexual assault, but he said he informed the chamber’s human resources department of the report. The investigation is open but Hamilton has not been charged with a crime, according to police.
“In the interest of full transparency and cooperation, I have reported this incident to the House Human Resources Department,” said Hamilton, a representative from Mountain Lake who was first elected in 2004. “To date, I have not been contacted by law enforcement regarding these allegations, but I will cooperate fully with any investigation conducted either by law enforcement or the House Human Resources Department.”
The internal investigation will happen under the parameters laid out in the House’s new sexual harassment policy, which was adopted Wednesday afternoon after months of discussion between legislators, staff and employment law experts.
Photo: Rep. Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain, who lives with M.S. in a wheelchair. Photo by Leila Navidi via the Star Tribune.
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