SENATE: Harassing fairness

We have all heard about the sexual harassment charges on all fronts, yet the most glaring is in the Senate.?In a nutshell, if you are sexually harassed by members of the Senate and want to file a claim you must do the following;

You, the victim, must go into counseling for up to 30 days (remember, you’re the victim).

You now have 15 days after counseling to pursue mediation after signing a confidential agreement. (Yep, you’re still the victim.)

The mediation lawyer is one of the government’s, not yours. Let’s say you’re not satisfied with the outcome of the mediation; are you now ready for the next step?

You (victim) now have a 30-day cooling off period before you can request a lawyer or hearing.

I may be wrong, but I do not see anyone in the Senate calling for reform of these four steps. The whole list of rules is to protect the person in power (who we elected), not the victim. The kicker is signing a confidential agreement, so the person in power is not to be known.

So where is the outrage? Why are you all not calling and emailing every member of the Senate and all the power people we elect, to change these antiquated rules and asking members to abide by the same rules as we all do? Sorry, I forgot: There’s a double standard.

GEORGE SILVA

Coeur d’Alene