| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Pa. House Democrats pay $248K to settle sexual harassment complaint against 40-year lawmaker |
| 2017-12-20 |
| [PHILLY] Pennsylvania House Democrats spent nearly a quarter-million dollars in taxpayer money to secretly settle a sexual harassment complaint against a 40-year politician, according to a document obtained by The Inquirer and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A payment of $248,000 went to quietly settle a complaint in 2015 against state Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, a Democratic politician from Berks County, by a longtime legislative staffer. The settlement included a non-disclosure agreement, according to a source familiar with the matter. The year after the settlement, Caltagirone, a politician since 1977, won reelection to his 21st two-year term; he was unopposed in the primary and the general election. It was not clear whether Caltagirone, who had faced a separate and widely publicized sexual harassment complaint in the mid-1990s, was disciplined or reprimanded after the 2015 payout. House Democrats would not discuss any specifics involving the case, and Caltagirone did not respond to requests for comment. The payout was in addition to the $30,000 that the Inquirer reported last month was made in 2013 to end a sexual harassment lawsuit against former state Rep. Jewell Williams, now Philadelphia’s sheriff, by a onetime employee. House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D., Allegheny) this week declined to be interviewed about the settlement payouts, which were itemized in a document prepared by the state’s Bureau of Risk and Insurance Management and obtained by the newspapers. The bureau manages the state’s self-insurance programs and investigates and pays tort claims and lawsuits against the state and its employees, including harassment suits. |
| Posted by:Fred |