Janet Petersen (file photo)

The Iowa Senate’s Democratic leader is asking the Senate’s Republican leader to release a recent review of sexual harassment allegations.

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen says releasing the findings of that internal investigation to the public “would be a first step in making sure the Legislature is a safe and welcoming environment for all.”

Senate GOP Leader Bill Dix fired a female staff member a few hours after she handed in a memo spelling out her complaints about a “toxic” workplace. Dix has said the firing was for poor work. The state now has agreed to pay Kirsten Anderson nearly $2 million to settle her lawsuit. This August, Dix ordered an internal investigation into Anderson’s complaints from 2013.

The Democratic leader says the lawsuit is a “black eye” for the senate and she says if taxpayers are going to be “on the hook” for $1.75 million, results of the investigation “should not be kept secret.”

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and House Speaker Linda Upmeyer — the legislature’s top Republican — have also called upon the Senate’s Republican leader to release details of his investigation. Dix said Monday that employees of the Senate GOP Caucus had an “expectation of privacy” when they discussed incidents of harassment.