President J. Stuart Adams issued the following statement in regards to sexual harassment allegations made by a former intern against Sen. Gene Davis:
“Wednesday evening, I learned about the allegations concerning Sen. Davis from an online post made by a former intern. The entire Senate and I take these comments seriously. After reviewing recommendations from the legislative general counsel and human resource administrator, I have directed an independent investigation be initiated to evaluate these allegations.
“The Senate condemns and does not tolerate workplace harassment. It has no place in any political, professional or personal setting.”
The Senate minority leadership–Sen. Karen Mayne, Sen. Luz Escamilla and Sen. Jani Iwamoto–issued the following statement:
“We take the recent allegations against Sen. Davis very seriously and do not tolerate sexual harassment or any form of inappropriate conduct in the workplace. We support an independent investigation to move forward immediately and will examine all options. Sexual harassment is wholly unacceptable, and while no complaint has been filed, we have confidence in the Legislature’s workplace discrimination and harassment policies and process to support employees and interns.”