But what if the accused is innocent?

There is a flip side of #MeToo.

Yes, we have to encourage women to come forward if they’ve been victims of sexual harassment.

Absolutely.

In Friday’s column, we discussed some of the situations — particularly those involving men with power or influence — that can easily lead to dangerous situations.

But there is another circumstance that crops up in some cases of alleged sexual misconduct.

What happens when an investigation turns up no witnesses or enough evidence to produce a clear verdict on the allegation?

It’s pretty obvious that many cases will hit a dead end at...

“He said, she said.”

The problem, according to several local human resource directors, is that even an accusation of sexual misconduct can stick with a person forever.

It seems to be one situation in our legal system where a person is considered guilty until proven innocent.

SHARING HER thoughts on the tidal wave of women coming forward and what she sees in Idaho political circles, state Sen. Mary Souza of Coeur d’Alene was keen to make one critical point.

“We can’t just treat accusations as truth,” she said. “That goes against the American system of justice.

“As a woman, I want to see all forms of sexual misconduct stopped and the perpetrators exposed, but I also have to say strongly that anyone accused deserves due process.

“You can’t just have everyone jump on a bandwagon and start throwing out names — and then find that some innocent people have been painted with the same brush.

“Each one of these men who have been in the news lately deserves a full investigation, and the same due process as anyone else in our justice system.”

Souza noted that just the accusations themselves can ruin someone’s reputation — whether they’re famous or not.

“That’s why each case has to be followed up,” she said. “If a person is guilty, act on it. But if it turns out someone has been falsely accused, that needs to be made public.

“Those people are entitled to get their reputations back.”

IN MOST cases of sexual harassment these days, a human resources director receives the complaint and hears out the facts presented by the possible victim.

Then the accused perpetrator is confronted with the charge, and both people are told separately that there will be an immediate investigation.

Sometimes, the accused is put on paid leave, although that can signal guilt (true or not) to his co-workers.

Quite a few human resources directors admitted that the system — despite lengthy training and great effort — can fail a person who is accused.

“The optics of the whole thing make you look guilty, just because your name gets floated around,” said one director. “An accusation alone is horrible enough to carry around, but the worst-case scenario is a person scorned who makes a complaint just out of spite.”

The bottom line is obvious...

Every person accused — yes, even Harvey Weinstein — remains innocent until proven otherwise in this country.

I’d gladly sign #MeToo to that concept.

•••

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press. Follow A Brand New Day at facebook.com/BrandNewDayCDAPress. Email: [email protected]