Report states Rep. Grijalva paid off former female employee over $48K

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva reportedly paid more than $48,000 to a female employee after she quit his office after three months.

She left the Washington, D.C., office after saying the Tucson Democrat “was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment,” according to Monday’s report in the Washington Times. The employee worked for Grijalva for three months in 2015 and received taxpayers funded $48,395 severance – about five months’ salary.

The Times story also said Grijalva’s office sent out a statement saying “at no time was any allegation of sexual harassment made, and no sexual harassment occurred.”

Here’s the full response, according to the Times:

“On the advice of House Employment Counsel, I provided a severance package to a former employee who resigned. The severance did not involve the Office of Compliance and at no time was any allegation of sexual harassment made, and no sexual harassment occurred.”

“Under the terms of the agreement, had there been an allegation of sexual harassment, the employee would have been free to report it. Regrettably, for me to provide any further details on this matter would violate the agreement.”

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva wants an apology from the Washington Times after he says the newspaper published “a misleading article trying to link me to sexual harassment complaints.”

The Times reported Monday that a woman quit Grijalva’s office in 2015 after three months, citing a hostile work environment.

Grijalva said the $$48,395 severance package paid to the woman was “consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance.”

“Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately.”

Here’s Grijalva’s full response to the Times story:

“Last week, the Washington Times contacted me seeking comment on what it described as a sexual harassment claim that, in fact, had never been made. Once the paper realized its original story was provably false, staff regrouped over the holidays and decided to run a misleading article trying to link me to sexual harassment complaints made against other people.

The fact is that an employee and I, working with the House Employment Counsel, mutually agreed on terms for a severance package, including an agreement that neither of us would talk about it publicly. The terms were consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance. The severance funds came out of my committee operating budget. Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately.

The journalistic standards at the Washington Times are lax and the paper owes me an apology.”