Another woman who works for Republicans in the Iowa Senate has testified that sexual harassment is commonplace in the state senate.
Kirsten Anderson, the former communications director for Senate Republicans, sued the state three years ago, claiming she was fired after writing a memo complaining about the harassment. Pam Dugdale, who still works for Senate Republicans, testified in this week’s trial that a newly-required seminar that spells out what constitutes sexual harassment hasn’t helped.
“I still have staff members say they don’t understand where the line is,” Dugdale said today. “…I do know the senators, on the day of training, still make fun of it.”
WHO Television aired this and other parts of Dugdale’s testimony in the station’s newscasts today, but advised viewers some of the harassment that Dugdale described was so graphic it could not be broadcast. Dugdale indicated the harassment started during her first week on the job.
“The office had changed my screen saver to a topless woman jumping on a trampoline to ‘Jingle Bells,'” Dugdale said on the witness stand. “That was my first incident.”
And Dugdale said now that she’s spoken publicly in court about these incidents, she’s concerned about what’s next.
“I have seen retaliation,” Dugdale said. “I have experienced retaliation in other areas related to my job, prior to Kirsten being hired, I believe. I’ve seen retaliation by the management.”
Dugdale’s former colleague was fired in 2013. Kirsten Anderson’s supervisors say Anderson’s firing was justified because of her poor work, particularly grammatical mistakes in her writing.